Protection of life, property and the environment

“CNES has been entrusted by the French government with a safety mission, that of mastering the technical risks involved in preparing and carrying out launches from the CSG. The objective is to protect life, property and the environment against all damage while complying with French legislation and France’s international obligations.

In applying the CNES safety doctrine, the CSG safety regulations define the safety requirements and rules to be observed by all users of the launch base and cover all activities for the design, preparation and implementation of any launcher from the CSG”.

The Guiana Space Centre has to protect life, property and the environment against damage and pollution which might be caused by spacecraft launchers.

This responsibility applies to any disturbances or pollution likely to damage land, sea and air during that part of the mission from the lift-off to injection into orbit by integrating the phases during which stages or boosters fall back. On day D, the technicians have to determine the launcher’s trajectory in order to minimize the risks. The trajectory is thus calculated for each second of flight and the Safety Division has to intervene if the launcher drifts dangerously outside of its flight corridor.

The Sub-Directorate in charge of Protection, Safety and the Environment has three principal assignments. These are :

• to ensure, in compliance with current legislation and regulations in force, the security and safety of life and property for the whole of the Guiana Space Centre.
• to protect, within the Guiana Space Centre, all life and property as well as the environment.
• to prevent and fight fires which may threaten facilities and to provide first aid and assistance for people for the whole of the Guiana Space Centre, with help from the Paris Fire Brigade seconded to the site.

To carry out its missions, the Sub-Directorate is divided into three divisions :

• The Protection Division, responsible for defining and implementing security measures and measures for protecting people and facilities within the Guiana Space Centre.
• The Environmental Conservation and Protection Division which is responsible for defining and implementing measures for protecting life and property as well as the environment during spacecraft preparation, launching and flight. It is also responsible for drafting compulsory studies required by legislation for classified facilities.
• The fire prevention, fire fighting and first aid Division is responsible for preventing and fighting fires and for providing assistance to people on the whole Space Base. It consists of an autonomous Brigade of Paris Fire Fighters and reports to the Protection Sub-Director.

The Safety Coordination Office (BCS) coordinates dangerous activities in order to decrease the risk of accidents occurring. In the case of any problem arising, the BCS can trigger an alarm or set up a crisis unit.

The ISO 14001 standard aims to “master and monitor significant environmental aspects, to eliminate, reduce and/or control damage to the environment, and satisfy concerned parties.”

CNES/CSG, which intends to conduct its Space activities with due respect for the environment, has been awarded ISO 14001 certification. CNES/CSG set up an environmental management system to demonstrate that it is a responsible company which preserves its environment.

This certification is the reward for two years of investment by all of the players in a company project. The ISO 14001 certificate was received in mid-December 2004 from the certifying organization "BVQI".

Relations with the SPPPI
CNES/CSG regularly organises presentations with support from the Permanent Monitoring Organization for the Prevention of Industrial Pollution (SPPPI). These are aimed in particular at the environmental aspects of the Soyuz and Vega launchers for which preliminary environmental impact studies have been made.

The results of the environment measurement plans for Ariane 5 launches, the changes already made and those envisaged jointly with the IRD, are also regularly presented to the SPPPI and are available at the Drire or on the site of the SPPPI.

Release of pale throated, three-toed sloths: more than 95 animals since the beginning of the partnership
CNES/CSG and the Chou Aï Association have joined forces to protect the three-toed sloth which is threatened with extinction.

In addition, the CSG is a natural reserve for the protection of wild fauna since hunting is forbidden there and it has many bois canon trees (Latin: cecropia) which is the basic food for three-toed sloths. Moreover, measures taken by CNES/CSG for protecting the environment and the fauna and flora of French Guiana guarantee a stable territory for these animals which are often victims of deforestation.

Census of primates in the CSG territory by the Kwata Association.

In addition to collaboration with the National Forests Department (ONF), CNES has also developed many partnerships with associations which protect the environment such as the Society for Study, Protection and Development of Nature in French Guiana (SEPANGUY), the Association for the Discovery of Nature in French Guiana (ADNG), the Kwata association, the Institute for Training and Research for Development (IFRD), the Ornithological association for the discovery, study and protection of birds and their biotopes in French Guiana (GEPOG) , etc.

CNES/CSG has a permanent communication policy for explaining and describing its mission to all players and people concerned: the French Guiana population and its local political authorities, the industrial companies working for or on the base, the customers, the ministries under which CNES and ESA fall, in particular.

Once a year, the general public is provided with information on risks relating to CSG activities and on the measures taken to protect life, property and the environment; this is done by distributing safety information sheets in four languages to the populations of Kourou and Sinnamary, describing the safety measures implemented during launches and giving instructions on what to do in the event of a launcher accident during flight.

Risk control and the environment protection activities are also described during visits to or lectures at the CSG (for instance to school children, nuclear engineers, Caribbean doctors, scientific congresses or conferences, etc.). These presentations deal in particular with the monitoring and measurement system set up by CNES at the CSG for monitoring and protecting the environment.

The Safety/Environment department undertakes an overall annual measurement plan for the CSG and specific measurement plans for all Ariane 5 flights.

By integrating results from previous measurements plans and field observations, simulation models have been made more accurate and realistic (through better integration of weather conditions in particular).

Most CSG facilities are subject to specific regulations due to the potential risks involved. At CNES /CSG, environmental protection is one of the basic missions of the Safety and Environment department. In this respect it is responsible for undertaking mandatory studies before operating any facilities as well as for monitoring the impact of Space activities on the environment and implementing CSG measurement plans for regular monitoring of the impact of Space activities on the ecosystem.

All of these checks, intermittently and annually, are used to monitor the impact of Ariane 5 activities on the environment and in particular to monitor the quality of air, fall back of chemical substances on the ground, the quality of industrial waste water, surface run-off water and ground water, the quality of sediments, the impact on trees, the impact on aquatic fauna in the creeks at Karouabo, Malmanoury and Passoura and the impact on avifauna (by sampling feathers and monitoring the colony of wader birds, in particular the Ibis).

For some measurements, partnerships are undertaken with Hydréco (the EDF laboratory at Petit-Saut) for monitoring of aquatic fauna, with Ecobios for monitoring avifauna, with the Institute for Training and Research for Development (IFRD) for studying the initial environmental state before the Soyuz project is undertaken.

Most of the impact occurs downwind of the launch zone to the west (up to a distance of about 2 km). Sometimes fallback can be detected between 2 km and about ten kilometres from the launch zone. Beyond that, measurements fall within the category of ‘natural background noise’.
The results of these measurement plans are described in summary reports ordered by CNES from outside organizations recognized for their expertise and are then sent to the Regional Directorate for Industry, Research and the Environment (the DRIRE), to different scientific organizations and to the SPPPI. They are then presented and discussed within the environment committee of the SPPPI.
Furthermore, these reports describe the diversity of animals and landscapes in the territory of the CSG and further our understanding of Guianese fauna and flora.

For more information :
See the ‘Safety’
file See the ‘environment’