From AP:

“Nantes — About 3,000 barrels of fuel oil leaked in and along the Loire River after a pipe ruptured while a tanker was being loaded at a Total refinery, the company said Monday.

Rescue teams used floating dams and Total mobilized a 200-person cleanup team to cope with the 400-ton spill at the Donges refinery in western France that began late Sunday, the company said in a statement.

Local officials said chunks of solidified oil were spotted on Atlantic Ocean estuary beaches, and fuel was seen floating along 12 miles of river Monday evening.

Total spokesman Burkhard Reuss said the cause of the rupture was not immediately clear. The company was trying to determine how long it took for the leakage of oil to be stopped, he said.

The Donges refinery produces about 230,000 barrels per day, he said.”

Though I’ve never wondered or cared about this, here’s some news escargot AKA snail lovers might appreciate. Organic snails are now available for the first time ever from a farm in Bretagne (Brittany). Are you jumping for joy?

“Didier and Jeannick Bonis are spearheading the defence of a national culinary icon under attack from Asian and Eastern European gastropods flooding France and misleadingly sold as Burgundy snails.

‘Welcome to snail Club Med,’ said Mr Bonis, 54, pointing to enclosures where 250,000 petit-gris or small grey snails are slumbering on wooden boards in the afternoon heat. Luscious green organic clover and radish along with marine limestone await them when they stir for their evening meal…” [Read the full article from the Telegraph]

Related: Escargot and Dave Barry, Escargot, the Unslimey Version