Strasbourg

The French project City, Strasbourg, is located in the region of Alsace on the eastern border of France. The city is run by the Communauté Urbaine de Strasbourg, which includes a number of neighboring communities. The project area, called the Plaine des Bouchers (Metzgerau) is located South of the city center (figures : location map and detail map).

From the hydrogeological point of view, the area belongs to the valley of the river Rhine, which is constituted of highly permeable alluvial deposits which built up an aquifer of 40 billion m³ groundwater, of major economic and ecological importance for the regional water supply. Due to general groundwater flow conditions, the wells of the municipal water supply are still unaffected. However, a well used for industrial water supply had to be shut down due to contamination.

The Plaine des Bouchers has been set up as an industrial area around 1910. As the area used to be periodically inundated, the creation of the industrial zone comprised extensive landfilling. Old gravel pits were filled up, and the whole area was covered with filling material of about 1 m thickness. Industrial development started in earnest after World War I with the establishment of mechanical industries, notably the Mathis automotive works which had for a while an association with the Ford Motor Company (figure : Inventory of former industrial sites).

Since World War II the area has been evolving along a pattern which appears common to such zones: with the abandonment of industrial production, the sites have been adapted as storage areas, as well as for commercial ventures such as garages, car lots and chemical production. Several industrial sites are still active, notably a chemical plant. Main pollutants are chlorinated hydrocarbons and heavy metals.