A French court on Tuesday ordered the state to compensate the family of a 50-year-old man who died in 2016 during a run after inhaling poisonous gas emitted by rotting green algae piled along the country’s western coast.
The Nantes appeals court found France liable for the death of Jean-Rene Auffray, citing its “negligence” in enforcing environmental regulations to protect its waters and prevent toxic green algae blooms.
For more than five decades, tonnes of green algae have washed up annually on Brittany’s beaches in western France, releasing hydrogen sulphide gas as it rots — a toxin that can be deadly in high concentrations.
Photo: AFP
Auffray, a keen trail runner, died of sudden respiratory failure while jogging in the algae-choked Gouessant estuary near the city of Saint-Brieuc.
His family sued over his death, but in 2022 a court rejected the claim, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to link the toxic algae to Auffray’s death.
Tuesday’s decision reversed that ruling, marking the first time France has been held liable for the health risks posed by deadly green algae blooms along its coast.
The court “holds the state liable for negligence due to its failure to implement European and national regulations designed to protect waters from agricultural pollution,” which is “the main cause of the proliferation of green algae in Brittany,” it said in a statement.
The court found that Auffray’s death was caused by a rapid pulmonary oedema — a condition in which there is too much fluid in the lungs — which could only be explained by fatal poisoning from inhaling hydrogen sulphide at very high concentrations.
“For the first time, a French court has recognized the link between a person’s death and the state’s negligence in these green algae cases,” said the family’s lawyer, Francois Lafforgue.
The family would receive partial compensation, as the court found the state 60 percent liable, noting that he had taken a personal risk by jogging in the estuary.
The state has been ordered to pay 277,343 euros (US$321,750) to the jogger’s wife, 15,000 euros to each of his three children and 9,000 euros to his brother.
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