Ines Leron, tireless whistleblower against green algae omerta

2009 Thierry Morfois, a green algae transporter in Brittany, was found dead at the foot of his truck. In the same year, a horseman was seriously intoxicated while walking his horse in Saint-Michel-en-Greve. The animal dies, as do thirty-six wild boars found inert on a mat of seaweed on the shores of Gusan, two years later. In 2016, the body of runner Jean-René Ofry was found in the Bay of Saint-Brio. The common denominator of these deaths. Green algae. On many coasts of the world, they are found unharmed in the sea or kept in small numbers on the beach. But when they accumulate en masse, their decomposition in the sun produces a gas that is toxic to living organisms; depending on its concentration, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) causes eye and nose burns, discomfort, poisoning, or rapid death. But local and national authorities refuse to accept this, citing a dead end, heart attack or recklessness as the cause of death.

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Understand

Why this factory of lies? What are they trying to hide and protect? What is the real public health issue in this matter? Doctors, engineers and activists will try to raise the alarm, but in vain. But in 2016, one voice will rise above the rest: that of independent investigative journalist Ines Leroy. His investigation of green algae that year and the following year benefited him Breton newspaperaired on “Les Pieds sur terre”. French culture, prior to the co-signed comics theme (1) with Pierre Van Hove, which sold 130,000 copies. Today it is the director Pierre Jolivet who takes over his story (2).

The heavier the omerta, the greater the scandal

Ines Leroud

Which starts in 2015. the journalist examines Breton agriculture and the relationship between breeders and cooperatives. But the subject is thorny, and tours from Paris are not conducive to contacts. “I could not establish enough trust. You had to be there to clear the floor,” recalls the freelancer, who left everything for three years to put down suitcases in central Brittany with her partner.

Omerta weight

According to his reports, he hears about green algae and remembers. a few months earlier, a local had slipped him a file on the Morfois case, filled with press articles that revealed inconsistencies in the authorities’ statements to explain the death. There seems to be no doubt that the green algae killed him, but no one wants to admit it. Ines Lero decides to dig into the topic, the doors close. “The heavier the omerta, the bigger the scandal.”

Based on the work of local whistleblowers, he understands the reasons for the silence. green tides are the result of agribusiness. If the algae multiply so much, the excrement of intensive reproduction is to blame, which, reaching the coast, acts like a fertilizer on toxic organisms. “What’s happening to the green algae symbolizes the consequences of global overproduction, a hellish machine that produces its own cancer,” says Pierre Jolivet, who chronicles Ines’ hard work in his feature film, returning to Q . remote origin of the problem. It all started after the end of World War II. The Americans provided France with the tools of agricultural industrialization to massively modernize and feed the population.

Toxic model

Fifteen years later, it’s time for a big consolidation in Brittany. small plots of land are pooled to promote intensive crop and livestock farming. Trees and hedgerows that acted as natural barriers are cut down and compost is spread as fertilizer, reaching beaches and feeding potentially deadly algae. However, to make the link between intensive agriculture and the deadly threat is to weaken tourism, lower real estate prices and kill the hen that lays the golden eggs; agro-industry is the leader of the economy. “Since then, the idea is no longer to produce food, but money, explains Pierre Jolivet. Never mind the environment, public health, and the morale of farmers who, growing up, have lost their privileged relationship with their land and animals.

When I lived in Paris, I had a biased view of the field

Ines Leroud

In both of his seasons Breton newspaperInès Léraud talks about the increasingly restrictive working conditions, standards and profitability goals that hinder farmers; “Farmers are victims. They are in debt, exposed to chemicals, exhausted by their time amplitude and threatened if they criticize the system or want to get out of it. The onus is not on them, but on administrations like FNSEA, industrialists and unions fattening on their backs. His comic cuts through the lobbying twists, the “irrelevant” evidence, the disregard for procedures so that companies, politicians and unions never take the blame. “This case highlights the conflict between the economic interests that govern us and the real interests of the people,” he explains. Acknowledging the responsibility of the agricultural industry will really cause an economic earthquake, which the powerful fear. A change in the agricultural model will weaken the system and allow less conscientious areas to market themselves more and more cheaply, despite the human and environmental costs. .

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By preaching these intricacies, Ines Leroy has made herself immensely popular. he experienced smear campaigns to make agribusiness workers flee from him (they make up 20% of the region’s workers), threats, intimidation… One day his Wikipedia file was changed to announce his death. But she never gave up, drawing her strength from her personal story. “My mother was very sick for ten years, and after long medical wanderings, the diagnosis was made. heavy metal contamination from her mercury dental fillings. That was my trigger, the engine that got me interested in public health issues outside of formal speaking. The path, however, is difficult, even sacrificial. After twenty-four episodes his Breton newspaper stopped.

Depressed, he goes to the goatherd, but upon his return, his commitment catches up with him. The idea of ​​comedy is sprouting. “He is a tenacious, unrepentant worker who follows his convictions. It is also gentleness, a smile and endurance,” says Pierre Jolivet. If he perseveres, it is also thanks to the support of local residents, including some farmers who, with time and education, understand his altruism. “When I lived in Paris, I had a preconceived idea of ​​the place, which I thought was uniformly industrialized, but there are also many counter-powers, other food chains, associations that struggle to be collective.” , he analyzes, preferring to create solidarity rather than meanness.

A voice that carries

Two agribusiness actors will attack him for defamation after the publication of the comic and the article in the media; enough. Either way, after an eighteen-month investigation that has encroached on his life and work, they will adjourn for four days. “His work is so meticulous that it is unobjectionable,” emphasizes Pierre Jolivet, who also went through obstacles to realize his project. It is impossible, for example, to get permission to film on polluted beaches. He then produced a hand-held camera, the right of use of which allowed him to film provided he did not obstruct traffic or public order and did not set up a camera tripod or tracking shot. The industrial piggery, which had agreed to open its doors to him, will leave after pressure a day before the applause.

Whistleblowers are the heroes of our time

Pierre Jolivet

For Ines Leroy, this film, which she wrote, is a performance for the director and for herself. It’s easier to hold the microphone than to tell each other. “I forced my character because the point of view interested me. The profession of journalism is sometimes glamorous, but the film shows it differently through the adventures of a volatile freelancer who leaves Paris for the countryside. I was also sensitive to the fact that Pierre wanted to film multiple women, as I have rarely seen. “Neither his comics nor his programs left room for Ines, but I was interested in him. Whistlers are the heroes of our time.” The 40-year-old man does not see himself that way, striving above all to maintain his (relative) peace and pay respect. “I was able to work because members of Breton society mobilized before me and supported me. I am not a heroine. Through my work, I was just able to bring this topic to light on another scale. These reports, this film and these comics were made for them, with them.”

Back in Brittany

After leaving Brittany for three years, he has been living there again since 2021. he continues to investigate agricultural issues for Les Pieds sur terre, is developing a comedy about land consolidation, and founded media d’investigation with Breton colleagues. Plan!, funded by citizens. Thierry Morphet’s death was finally ruled an occupational accident in 2018. As for the municipalities, they are closing access to the contaminated sites and intensifying the collection, which is carried out by workers who are now protected from the fumes. But the government authorities have not yet solved the problem that exists in many countries for the tragic wildlife and environment.

(1) Green algae, forbidden history, by Inès Léraud and Pierre Van Hove, Éditions Delcourt. (2) Green algaeBy Pierre Jolivet. It was released on July 12.