Vhe five years old, the lead from Notre-Dame de Paris left in a cloud of dust or melted on the spot. Firefighters and local residents remember it well, like all Parisians. They took a big risk. Five years later, no feedback on this “metal fire” is known. The weight of the lead recovered has not been communicated.
Slowly, the dispersion of dust continues through the different Ile-de-France ecosystems. These lead particles are not biodegradable; their deleterious effect can last over several generations.
Many hoped that this tragedy would trigger a trigger, raise awareness and, ultimately, lead to the abandonment of the lead solution for the restoration work on the cathedral. It is not so. The project is progressing well and, starting this summer, new lead will cover the entire building. Everything will be as before.
Alternatives exist
Those responsible for this operation wallowed in denial throughout the construction site. One claimed that no lead dust had escaped on April 15, 1979 (Philippe Villeneuve, RTL, October 15, 2019). The other praised lead as a “noble metal” (Jean-Louis Georgelin, France 2, 2022), or as a virtuous model of“circular economy”. Such delusions should have raised questions: they only provoked public disinterest.
However, heritage protection and environmental protection should go hand in hand. Safeguarding the integrity of remarkable human works and fighting against environmental degradation result from the same intellectual approach. But with lead, it must be recognized that the two are opposed. If we do not know how to get rid of lead, except by putting it “under the carpet”, let us recognize that it would be easy to find a substitute material for the monuments concerned. More than half of the churches in Paris and more than half of the cathedrals north of the Loire are covered with slate, to the great pleasure of those who admire them, and to the relief of those who maintain them.
Those who hold the lead must therefore bow down. Because the lead damage to Notre-Dame is not new. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc [1814-1979, architecte ayant restauré la cathédrale de Paris] he himself was moved. Ten years after the construction of his spire, it was necessary to redo the lead cover, attacked by the pyroligneous acid of the oak, then to return to it twice since.
The vast project which opened at the beginning of 2019, fifteen years late, represented the third attempt to “rescue” the roof of the spire. This construction site was ultimately, in all probability, the origin of the fire of April 15. That evening, we witnessed an uncontrollable metal fire, very dangerous for the firefighters responding and for local residents who had not been warned. The removal of lead from the building delayed the new restoration project which followed by a year. All this to… put things back together ” Alike “ (speech by Emmanuel Macron of July 9, 2020)!
You have 37.16% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.