Be Careful When Dealing With The French Military

Environmental compliance in other countries can be difficult as the question of whether rule of law applies there as it does in the USA, and other places.  We all hope that it does, and I believe to some extent that this is really what it means when we say "our way of life".

Law is what is used as the rules of how we conduct ourselves as civilized people.  Otherwise we live in a world of chaos and anarchy with everyone doing whatever they believe they can do, which may include bad or good.  Without a standard there is no way to judge, so it is a free for all, or there is a dictator.  Of course a dictator does have a rule of law as he/she is the rule(r).

Our field is used from time to time as a tool that is welded about by people or organizations to get what they want, which is not always associated with environmental protection.  They just use it to show that they don't have some self interest.  The good person simply trying to do the right thing.

LESSON LEARNED--FRENCH MILITARY

I am on a project in Djibouti, with the project site located next to French military ammunition storage area.  The project site was sold to the company by the Djiboutian land office in coordination with the Djiboutian military.  We provided the French with a copy of all our project documents to advise them of our operation to include air quality program, safety program, spill prevention/protection, and project layout.

The French general made a good point.  He was concerned about the four 18,000 gallon diesel fuel tanks in regards to fire safety for his ammunition storage area, and a one house residence.  He was also concerned about the generators interfering with the high frequency military transmission system located near by.  That we needed to postpone the project until his engineers could evaluate the potential impact.

It is always important to not wait on what maybe a local neighbor's concern, and let them do the report--this includes dealing with regulators.  So, I proceeded to conduct my own analysis, and found out very quickly that these questions had already been answered by the US military many years ago.  There are no impacts, and by following NFPA for the storage tanks we were very safe.

I provided this report, and yet the French military threw up another 'roadblock' by saying that as a military post they have jurisdiction over all the land that surrounds their bases.  They said it was a agreement with the host country.  But they could not provided the agreement or any other proof.

Asking them about it, they simply said it is a security issue and then they informed their Embassy.

During this time they brought in heavily armed military personnel to shadow our staff as we conducted our work.  They used binoculars to peer at us from close range, as our project is only 25 meters from the property line.

Then of all things, the French military actually stated that if we approached their fence line they would shoot us.  I think this is one war they could win.

The lesson is to document every aspect of your project to include any subject that may not seem important.  It is also important not to assume anything.  Legal documentation that is valid in the USA may not be as binding due to the political strength of the protester, so it is important to be prepared to go public to protect your interests as best you can.

Make it obvious that your project is USA.  Sometimes this is not possible due to security issues, but if at all possible raise your flag.

Get a couple of very good in country lawyers and do not hesitate to file a law suit.

SIDE NOTE:

Interesting also that the same people who are concerned about fires resulting from a aboveground diesel storage tank 300 feet away, are the same ones starting big fires right next to their munition storage areas.