The River Seine will be a key part of the Summer Olympics in Paris, but organizers say they may have to delay or cancel some events if bacteria levels get too high.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Morgan Segui adjusted his goggles, tugged down his bathing cap and then leaped into the Canal de l’Ourcq in northeastern Paris, not far from a “No Swimming” sign.
Mr. Segui was joined on an overcast Sunday morning by nine other members of Les Ourcq polaires, a group of open-water swimming enthusiasts who regularly ply the canal, and occasionally the River Seine. The club’s 900 members worry about currents and boats, but they don’t sweat water pollution.
“We have never been sick,” said Mr. Segui, 46, who swims outdoors year-round. “No one ever had an issue. No skin problem, no disease, no gastric problem.”'
Morgan Segui swims in the river and says he worries about currents and boats, but never about water pollution.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
The Seine has been the lifeblood of Paris for centuries, but it also has a reputation for being one of Europe’s most polluted waterways; so much so that it was declared ecologically dead in the 1970s.
As the river takes centre stage during the Olympics this summer, fears about its water quality have taken on new significance. The Seine will host the opening ceremonies, featuring a flotilla of nearly 100 boats carrying thousands of athletes. It’s also the venue for marathon swimming and the swimming legs of the triathlon and para-triathlon.
Despite French authorities’ confidence, organizers have conceded that they may have to delay or even cancel some events if bacteria levels get too high. And the indications so far don’t look good.
An environmental group called Surfrider has been testing the water regularly for E. coli and enterococci, an intestinal bacteria. Over the past seven months, only one test has come up satisfactory for swimming.
“It therefore clearly appears that the athletes who will take part in the Olympic and Paralympic events planned in the Seine will swim in polluted water and take significant risks for their health,” the organization said.
A wetter-than-usual spring has also increased the river’s water level and strained treatment centres, resulting in untreated rainwater overflowing into the river.
On Monday, the French open-water swim team cancelled a planned training session in the Seine. Olympic organizers have also scrapped two rehearsals for the opening ceremonies, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has been forced to delay a high-profile swim she’d planned to demonstrate that the river is safe.
French authorities insist the water will be safe for the Games and they’ve invested €1.4 billion – or $2-billion – on a variety of initiatives.
Visitors watch an interactive projection of the underground sewer system at the Paris sewer museum on May 31.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
One of the biggest is a new rainwater retention basin that’s capable of collecting 50,000 cubic metres of water, or roughly 20 Olympic-sized pools. The basin is designed to collect excess rainwater so that it can go to the treatment centre directly, rather than the rain saturating potentially contaminated soil that may drag toxic runoff into the river.
The city is also pressing ahead with plans to designate three areas along the Seine for public swimming next year as part of an Olympic legacy program.
Despite the concerns, a lot of scientists, swimmers and environmentalists say the river has come a long way in recent years.
Swimming was banned in 1923 because of the dangers posed by boat traffic. But people continued to bathe in a few places up until the 1970s, when pollution levels presented too much of a health risk.
By the nineties, nearly all of the river’s fish species had died and even the hardiest of swimmers avoided the water. The sorry state finally prompted public action.
The Seine was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1991, which helped kick-start a clean-up campaign. Over the next decades, several water treatment plants were built and industrial discharge fell sharply.
The river now has 120 fish species, including salmon and sea trout, according to Le GIP Seine-Aval, a research team that has been studying the estuary for the past 20 years. “The quality of water, previously very degraded, has improved significantly since the 1970s and 1980s,” the organization said.
The increased public awareness into the Seine’s condition is a good thing, says Severine Vasselin, but she’s also concerned making the water safe for humans might not be good for the ecosystem.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
“It’s not as bad as you think,” said Severine Vasselin, an environmental activist and actor who lives in Paris. She started paddleboarding on the Seine about 10 years ago.
“Everybody thought I was insane, they said ‘Oh my God, but this must be so dirty,’” Ms. Vasselin said. Her response was to start a charity called Watertrek. “I asked myself, ‘Why should it be dirty?’”
She’s glad that the Olympics has increased public awareness and that the Seine could be open to public swimming.
But she’s also concerned that making the water amenable for humans might not be the best outcome for the ecosystem. “I’m not necessarily very keen on reading that the water is safe and you can swim in it. Because, possibly, it’s clean because it has been cleaned chemically, meaning that they got rid of all the wildlife,” she said.
She also doesn’t want to see parking lots or other amenities added for swimmers. “The Seine shouldn’t become Disneyland.”
Other activists plan to use the global attention generated by the Olympics to go further and push for recognition that the river has rights.
“We have to create a new empathy with the river instead of just focusing on the use of the Seine as a swimming pool,” said Marine Calmet, an environmental lawyer in Paris who works with a non-profit group called Guardians of the Seine.
Ms. Calmet, who is an avid open-water swimmer, believes that establishing that the Seine has rights – such as the right to exist and evolve naturally – would force the public and private sectors to take the river’s wellbeing into account in their decision-making.
The Les Ourcq polaires have pulled garbage out of the river, including bottles, beer cans, lighters, plastic bags and even a bicycle.Siegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
There remain challenges that even the Ourcq polaires acknowledge won’t be solved in the short term.
Every time the members swim, they collect bundles of debris. During their recent Sunday outing, they pulled out a bottle, beer cans, a lighter, plastic bags and a discarded children’s bicycle.
That was a typical haul, said Guillaume Liegey, 44, as he climbed out of the canal. Mr. Liegey understands the concerns some Olympic athletes might have about bacteria levels, but he’s never had a problem. And he’s clinging to hope that by next summer, he’ll be doing laps in the Seine along with hundreds of other Parisians.