In a plastics factory, a 500 to 1000-litre leak of dibutyl phthalate polluted a ditch upstream of the CRUME River. Repair works focusing on the transfer platforms, storage tank retention and pump room were undertaken by a subcontractor. Around 11:30 am, a worker with this outside firm unknowingly opened a phthalate sampling valve in the pump room. At about 1:45 pm, one of the workshop managers noted that the valve was ¾ of the way open and that phthalate had spread onto the shop floor. He duly notified both the subcontractor and factory safety manager, neither of whom noticed that the spill had reached the ditch running below. Then around 3 pm, this manager observed an abnormally low tank level and informed his supervisor, at which point he returned to the shop and this time remarked that, due to the works and the room being open, phthalate had poured into the ditch running along the site boundary. He contacted the local town hall to inquire about the discharge network status downstream of the ditch and then called in local fire services and gendarmerie. Fire-fighters arrived immediately and deployed a survey team on the CRUME River and further downstream along the SEVRE River. No trace of phthalate was identified downstream of the CRUME. Phthalate, which is a colourless greasy liquid that floats on water, is in fact not toxic for aquatic organisms; moreover, experts had found that it biodegrades rather quickly. The decision was therefore made not to dam the SEVRE. A preventive dam was however placed at the level of the CRUME in order to block potential residue. The ditch was treated by fire-fighters using appropriate absorbents. The factory operator was required to remove and treat these absorbents and subsequently clean the ditch. Measures were adopted to avoid recurrence of such an incident: ongoing works would seal the pump room, and pumps would be raised and placed on duckboard. In the event of another near overflow, the product would be retained in the pump room and then pumped for extraction. In the case of a more substantial spill, i.e. with product spreading beyond the room, flow would be channelled to the hydrocarbon separator via transfer zone drains. The operator planned on installing absorbents both in the pump room and adjacent to transfer zones, in addition to studying the placement of a valve at the beginning of the ditch in order to isolate the site from both the CRUME and SEVRE Rivers.