Published on Attaque.noblogs.org.
On the night of October 5th, we resorted to sabotage to try to stop the toxic production of the chemical platform of Balan in Ain, by hitting its electrical supply upstream.
Inspired by actions aimed at cutting energy to industries throughout France and elsewhere, we set fire to the high voltage cables that run from the La Boisse substation towards the platform. Inside the electrical substation, the cables leave the ground (isolated in ducts) to climb on the pylons. That’s where it is possible to set it on fire without major risk, causing a short circuit and cutting off the power.
It is the 60th anniversary (1965-2025) of the Balan chemical platform, which produces plastic powders and pellets for industrial use. Yet there is nothing to celebrate.
60 years that this Seveso-classified industrial time bomb has been posing its threat to the region.
60 years that pellets have spread in the waterways, fields and woods around.
60 years that the fumes, microplastics, PFAS make residents, animals, trees, plants sick (cancers).
60 years that chemistry makes workers accomplices in the destruction of the earth and the degradation of their own health.
60 years that the major chemical groups like Arkema, Solvay and Basf have been waging their chemical warfare against land, oceans and air.
60 years that the lights of this factory hide the stars.
The industrial model continues its race towards collapse. Genocide, ecocide, liberticide accompany industrial progress everywhere.
Our struggles may seem desperate, our attempts to put a stick in the derisory mechanisms, our futile resistances. Yet…
when we go down the street to block an umpteenth project, our hearts warm up by guessing the smiles behind the hoods
when we sneak into the night approaching the target of our next sabotage, the stars encourage us to persevere
when we learn that others are venturing down the paths of sabotage, we feel hope coursing through our veins
We are part of a strategy of widespread and multifaceted resistance
1. aimed at preventing new industrial developments (highways, high-speed train, nuclear, basins, mines,…).
2. targeting existing industrial production by all possible means
3. sabotaging the energy and logistics infrastructures on which the system depends.
Such a movement is only possible by weaving networks of solidarity, sharing our knowledge and failures, critically analyzing our ways of fighting, protecting each other from repression, learning from experiences elsewhere.
Let’s not wait anymore.
Let’s join the fight.
Let’s join the maquis to defend the land.
Dare to dream of a world free from states, factories, pylons.
Dare to live and resist.
PS
“The 40-hectare Balan chemical platform hosts 2 operators, Kem One and SK Fonctional Polymer (both ex-Arkema). Factories producing industrial plastic pellets and powders employ a few hundred workers and operate day and night.
Kem One produces PVC in the form of powder. It spews out 275,000 tonnes of toxic powder annually for industry.
SK Functional Polymer manufactures 60,000 tons of plastic pellets for industry each year.
08/11/2025