French lake still riddled with bombs 80 years after World War II
The apparently pristine Gerardmer lake in the Vosges mountains of eastern France conceals a bleak legacy of 20th-century conflict – dozens of tonnes of unexploded ordnance from the two world wars.
The lake 660 metres above sea level is a popular summer bathing spot and is sometimes also tapped for drinking water for the picturesque local town.
Gerardmer's mayor Stessy Speissmann-Mozas started asking questions about the water safety after the Odysseus 3.1 environmental group said samples taken from the lake showed high levels of TNT explosive, as well as metals like iron, titanium and lead.
The group said it found artillery shells in the mud at the bottom of the lake. Some were "gutted, allowing the explosive they contained to escape", Odysseus 3.1's founder Lionel Rard said in a documentary broadcast by the France 5 channel in May.
Samples sent to a German lab showed TNT levels among "the highest ever measured by that team", as well as metal concentrations above legal limits.
'Stick all this in the lake'
The mayor has said the government should pay for a more detailled study of the risks from the munitions that were initially dumped in Gerardmer by the French army. As a theatre of multiple conflicts over the past century and more, France is particularly afflicted by unexploded ordnance.
Most dates back to the world wars but shells are still found from the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, noted Charlotte Nihart of Robin des Bois (Robin Hood), an association that has charted unexploded bombs across France.
Unexploded ordnance is involved in around 10 deaths nationwide every year.
Read more on RFI English
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