"An operation led by the gendarmerie began this morning at 6:15 a.m. [05:15 GMT] to end an illegal occupation of Bois-Lejuc, the site, earmarked for the project of national interest Cigeo," French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb posted on Twitter.
Sous l'autorité de la préfète de la Meuse, une opération menée par la @Gendarmerie a débuté ce matin à 6h15 visant à mettre fin à l’occupation illégale du Bois-Lejuc, site destiné au projet d’intérêt national Cigéo, situé nord de la commune de #Bure.
— Gérard Collomb (@gerardcollomb) 22 февраля 2018 г.
The 221 hectares (about 546 acres) of the Bois-Lejuc forest will turn into a nuclear waste disposal site if the French Cigeo project is approved by the government and comes to fruition. The project is strongly opposed by local environmentalist groups.
"Under the authority of the prefect of the Meuse, an operation led by the national gendarmerie began this morning at 6:15 to end the illegal occupation of BoisLejuc," wrote Gerard Collomb.
#Bure (55) Sous l'autorité de la préfète de la Meuse, une opération menée par la gendarmerie nationale a débuté ce matin à 6h15 visant à mettre fin à l’occupation illégale du #BoisLejuc #GendarmerieEnOpérations pic.twitter.com/dhQd4MRsJt
— GendarmerieNationale (@Gendarmerie) 22 февраля 2018 г.
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The protesters started camping in the Bois-Lejuc in June 2016, when Andra, the French national radioactive waste management agency, started clearing the territory and erecting a wall around it. A dozen militants have been living at the site since then.
