1. It is important to realize that actually we find ourselves with two companies who are concerned with a quarry near us:
1. The O.SA.GRA company which manages the quarry of Belvèze.
2. The Rup company which asks for the establishment of a quarry at 400 meters of Bouloc.
2. We admit that there is a need for quarries, it is an necessary evil. But in spite of that a quarry is not a harmless thing. They are classified installations of which it is necessary to avoid their proliferation and which should be controlled rigorously.
3. On one hand we have a quarry of which we know that the company which manages it is well integrated in the daily life of our area and whose behaviour towards the neighbouring communities is such that the impact on our life is the least possible. On the other hand we run the risk of having another quarry, one that is managed by a company of which we had the occasion to see the behaviour of its persons in charge and that of its sympathizers.
4. The second quarry will be appreciably closer to Bouloc than the quarry of Belvèze and by consequence, the life in the village of Bouloc and its surrounding communes will suffer seriously from it.
5. Tourism, which was in full development in our region, will not be able to cope with a multiplication of the number of quarries. Let not be destroyed this source of income for Bouloc.
6. We already have a quarry in our vicinity which has an infrastructure already present. Why a second, and why not a third ? Why allow a savage competition install itself in our region with all the risks connected to it ?
7. Contrary to that of Belvèze, the second quarry is envisaged far from the roads able to accommodate the heavy traffic of its trucks of 40 tons. The network of our small roads around Bouloc is not adapted at all to a traffic of such a weight and such an intensity. The consequence being that the maintenance costs, which are for the account of the Community of Communes of which Bouloc is a member, will be enormous.
8. The only income that Bouloc could have envisaged of the company Rup was a small fraction of its professional tax. The new plans of the French government concerning this tax, associated with the maintenance costs of the roads, can only lead to the aggravation of the financial position of the commune of Bouloc or to a rise of the taxes for the inhabitants.
   

 
The 24th of January a storm named “Klaus” swept the south of France destroying whatever came in his path. Fortunately in Bouloc the damage remained relatively limited. Nevertheless  the Boulocois did spend several days without electricity, without telephone and without internet.

Apart from damage on roofs and antennas, we have to include several broken poles for electricity and telephone. We also had to take note of many fallen trees, an extra scar in our beautiful landscape that will heal only very slowly.

Some days after the storm, after having given a helping hand to households and people who were in trouble, a group of volunteers checked and repaired the large signs “Pas de carrière à Bouloc”. Concerning the smaller signs, they will be replaced by new ones in the days to come.
 

Admittedly, it is not easy to find the words necessary to depict the situation which developed in Bouloc, normally serene and quiet, but which was suddenly confronted with the threat of the establishment of a quarry just outside the village. A threat which was at the origin of our association, created in order to alert and to mobilize the inhabitants, in a context where certain  persons then in charge of the community, gave the impression not to want to intervene.
In the beginning the association had to defend its right to express its opinion concerning the establishment of a quarry, and we worked hard, with patience and perseverance, in order to convince our adversaries of this right. The result of the courage and the tenacity of the members of the first hour was that, finally, many people became aware that the association gave them the possibility to speak freely and without fear, conscious of being protected by an interdependent group.

Thus inhabitants of Bouloc and the surrounding villages, but also those who hold Bouloc and its environment dear, could express (and still express) their concern about such a development. In spite of what some of our adversaries say, we are not favourable of stopping any development in Bouloc and to make its economy stagnate. On the contrary, we are particularly in favour of economic development, provided that this is done in respect of the framework of life and environment. Let us not forget that Bouloc and its surroundings have so many possibilities to offer to their visitors that the establishment of any destroying industry is not necessary and will only lead to the permanent destruction of a latent economic richness. The visitors will not come any more if they are welcomed by clouds of dust, a noria of trucks and an infernal noise.

Last on August 5 the company Rup deposited its request for the establishment of a quarry near Bouloc at the prefecture. In accordance with the procedure stipulated by the law, the DRIRE (Regional Management for Industry, Research and the Environment) will evaluate the administrative admissibility of this request. This phase is not finished yet. Then a public inquiry will be held and the municipal council is going to be asked to give its opinion. All that can take much time. There are several examples of similar procedures which have taken many years.
Our association already exists a year: a fact which we celebrated on September 27 around a giant barbecue which joined together our village and its neighbours. Since, we also organized our second lotto as well as the tombola of the téléthon. We benefit from it to thank here the many donors as well as the volunteers whose generosity is an encouragement for us all.

Last but not least, that which remains is to wish all of you a happy new year in good health, but also to formulate the wish that the final decision of the public authority will save Bouloc of the degradation of its quality of life and an economic regression  which we are not partial to.

L. H. Roeten
President Bouloc Environment