>
>
> Oily sand dumped on fashionable Paris avenue in protest of 1999 spill
>
>
> PARIS (April 1, 2000 12:57 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A group
> protesting last year's oil spill that contaminated France's Atlantic coast
> on Saturday dumped three tons of oily sand, mixed with dead fish, on Paris'
> chic Avenue Montaigne.
>
> The action by the Protection for the Coastal Environment Outrageously
> Dirtied was aimed at Thierry Desmarest, president of TotalFina, the
> Franco-Belgian oil company that protesters blame for the oil spill.
>
> The group said Desmarest lives in an apartment along the avenue, but
> TotalFina denied the claim. When police arrived, the group cleaned up the
> mess, putting the sand back in a dump truck.
>
> The incident preceded a silent march through Paris by up to 3,000 people
> showing their anger over the spill on Dec. 12, when a Maltese-registered
> tanker chartered by TotalFina split in two in rough waters, spilling 3
> million gallons of heavy oil.
>
> The National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks said in
> March that the oil contained carcinogenic substances, presenting a "real
> risk" to the environment.
>
> Protesters want TotalFina to foot the bill for the cleanup.
>
> Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Armed Group for the Defense of the
> Environment tried to set fire to a Total service station in Dury, in the
> Somme region north of Paris, local officials said.
>
> Total merged with Belgian oil group Petrofina in 1998 to form TotalFina.
>
> The previously unheard-of group claimed responsibility for the attempt.
>
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