Following violent thunderstorms during the night of Sunday to Monday, a 1-m sheet of water swept through installations at a woodworking and wood treatment plant. Located in the LOIRE Basin, 1 km away from the river, the facility was treating wood by injecting creosote or CCA (copper, chromium, arsenic) salts. Many electrical machines (computing hardware, power transformer) were idled. Various wood storage piles (containing logs, pegs, etc.) were partially shifted; posts were found on the road adjacent to the site. Raw material supplies (creosote, CCA salts) were not degraded, and no product leak was reported by the firm the plant operator had contracted to clean and, as needed, remove pollution from the site. In contrast, this sheet of water laden with earth and other debris covered the retention basins, pits and settling zones; the water was pumped and stored while awaiting analysis. Sludge was stored on a zone rendered impermeable. A protocol for overseeing pollution risk zones was adopted by the soil decontamination firm.

The operator planned to shut down site activity for 3 to 4 weeks, with some 60 employees being made redundant. Once informed of the results of these analyses, the collected volumes of waste and the selected mode of disposal, the Inspection Authorities for Classified Facilities asked to receive regular analyses of readings from piezometers placed around the site.