00:00The breathtaking Calanque National Park sits like a jewel on the French Mediterranean shore.
00:07It draws tourists and locals year-round.
00:10But few visitors realize that this stretch of coastline is severely contaminated with toxic heavy metals.
00:16Hiking here can be harmful to your health.
00:21All this used to be our playground.
00:24I wouldn't have gone in the water here last summer if I'd known.
00:27Here in Samena Bay, excavators have been removing and disposing of contaminated soil since September 2025.
00:39The Calanque National Park stretches from the Mediterranean to the suburbs of Marseille, France's second largest city.
00:47We're in an area of the Calanque National Park that, paradoxically, has both fascinating nature and plant life with many protected species.
01:01And an industrial past, with numerous former factory sites that have since become villages, now home to the descendants of the workers who once lived here.
01:14Alain Mante cares deeply about the future of this park.
01:18He's been working here since it was founded in 2012, and knows what caused the problem.
01:23Huge amounts of toxic waste, the legacy of our industrial past.
01:31Melody Grand and Jérémie Durand are in charge of the state-funded cleanup operations.
01:36Our measurements show very high concentrations of heavy metals, even in the sand on the beach.
01:46That's why the work will involve replacing the beach material and containing any material that can be carried away by rain or wind.
01:53The pollutants come from long-closed industrial plants, like the Escalette lead factory, which operated here until 1925.
02:07The slag is a by-product of metal processing.
02:10At the time, its toxicity was not known.
02:12The waste was simply dumped into the sea and the natural surroundings.
02:16The park is, in fact, on very mineral-rich ground, but you can see the difference here.
02:24The bottom layer is old industrial slag, but the upper layer is demolition material like bricks and roof tiles.
02:35The rough terrain requires special equipment, like this spider excavator, weather permitting.
02:42High waves or strong winds put a stop to the work.
02:46The French government has allocated 14 million euros for the decontamination.
02:54Until recently, few here were aware of the danger.
02:58There used to be warning signs, but they were quickly torn down.
03:02So now there's no information at all.
03:05The city hired some young people to raise awareness, but maybe because they were so young,
03:10the locals and tourists who came to the bay didn't take them very seriously.
03:16I wouldn't have gone in the water here last summer if I'd known.
03:21There were about 100 people on the beach, swimming and having picnics, but there were no notices about it.
03:27We grew up at it, everyone from around here, everyone who was my age back then.
03:37All this used to be our playground.
03:39We played on the slag heap up there, in the tunnels, in the blast furnaces.
03:43The tunnels are these old factory vents, built along the hillsides.
03:55There was also a vent here.
03:57The contaminated soil is now being sucked out, so that hikers can safely rest here in the future.
04:03It's still too hazardous for a picnic.
04:08The studies showed that the risk is mainly linked to accidentally ingesting this soil.
04:13So it mainly affects children, especially if they put their hands in their mouths after touching contaminated soil.
04:19But some residents think it's too little too late.
04:26They also question the effectiveness of the measures.
04:30There's no point.
04:31We've been swimming in it our whole lives and no one's died.
04:35People died at the factory.
04:39What they're removing isn't even a thousandth of what's in the sea.
04:44That's the problem, what's in the sea.
04:46Alain says there was a nightclub at this bay 20 years ago.
04:51Cars were parked everywhere and trash piled up.
04:54Since the national park was created, the area has become much cleaner and is now popular for day trips.
05:01This bay needs decontamination too, but work won't start until fall 2026.
05:09The mistral wind blows directly onto this area.
05:13Industries dumped tons and tons of slag here.
05:18The sea to the rest, collecting it all and spreading it through the marine environment.
05:24Malorie Gros and Jérémie Durand hope to complete the first phase of the cleanup by spring 2026,
05:31giving hikers at least a soupçon of the area's natural beauty.
05:34Valorie Gros and Jérémie Durand,
05:52the wishing hikers at least a contrib Selonym Goupl��ais,
05:55the project is precious as you see in the sea.
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