The Basque Country agglomeration community and Suez Eau France, responsible for its wastewater treatment, were charged on July 6 and April 22, 2026, for illegal wastewater discharges into the ocean since 2017. The Bayonne prosecutor’s office confirmed this on Monday, September 21. Both entities are suspected of “discharge by a legal person of harmful substances into surface or underground waters or sea waters,” “throwing or abandoning waste,” and “discharge into waters of a substance limiting the use of swimming areas.”
Since May 2019, and for eight years following a tender, the Basque Country agglomeration community, grouping 158 municipalities, delegated its public sanitation service to Suez Eau France. In case of saturation, the six plants on the Basque coast may discharge untreated water, within a limit of 5 percent of their total volume. Sud Ouest’s investigation revealed exceedances of 15 percent, and even a peak of 22 percent in 2020 at Hendaye.
Reference
Le Monde, “Le Pays basque et Suez mis en examen pour des rejets illicites d’eaux usées dans l’océan Atlantique,” published September 21, 2026. https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2026/09/21/le-pays-basque-et-suez-mis-en-examen-pour-des-rejets-illicites-d-eaux-usees-dans-l-ocean-atlantique_6779176_3244.html