A sea of possibilities
Résumé
This talk analyses the slow disappearance of four submarine telecommunication cables around the city of Marseille (south of France) and untangles the different modes of existence of these infrastructural ruins: from the deactivated network weaved of marine plants, to the ownerless objects waiting to be removed from the sea, till the maritime dumping ground soon to be cleaned once cables will be sent in a recycling program.
The talk will narrate the activity of a French regional marine park — namely The Marine Park of the Blue Coast — which fought for several years with the main national telecommunications operator Orange to obtain in 2019 the removal of the four submarine cables. They were installed between 1978 and 1993 but then deactivated in 2004. The presentation will be based on the analysis of legal documents that were used to compel Orange to remove the cables as well as interviews with members of the regional park, local authorities, and other diverse actors who participated in the removal.
In a context where the French Environmental Code expects cable owners to remove them and return the seabed the way they initially found it, it remains unclear who makes them accountable for these actions and what does it mean to bring back an aquatic space as found when the cables have been merging with marine biodiversity for decades.
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