Page 59 - THE FIRE STATION
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All water (waste-water, clean water, runoff from roads) other than   Fauna and flora
rainwater must therefore be collected and disposed of off-site.      In contrast to the slag heap and wet zone with their interesting
                                                                     biology, the fire station site itself was of little interest as regards
Hydrogeology                                                         flora and fauna, being the place where the backfill from the 1978
The ground beneath the LaTombe site has a Paleozoic base of          motorway construction had been dumped. However, the higher
carboniferous rock, i.e. a layer more or less rich in coal.          temperature of the slag heap due to the combustion of coal resi-
                                                                     dues within it has encouraged the spread of plants and animals
Mainly formed during the Carboniferous Period, coal is found in      not usually found in the region.
seams.Those at Charleroi are over 1500 metres thick, made up of
many formations.The coalfield’s predominantly clay formations        More than 300 types of plants have been identified on the slag
are not a priori favourable for storing water and forming large      heap, apart from mushrooms and rare lichens.
reserves. Even so, a few very local sandstone pockets may contain
significant quantities of water, as revealed by a “dix-sous” probe   The fauna is just as varied. In the pioneer vegetation zones such
carried out within a radius of 1500 metres around the fire station   as the slag heap’s south-west flank, we find species dependent
site which identified an underground reservoir some 1400 metres      on scree, such as the northern wheatear.
north-west of the site, filled with water from the carboniferous
layer. It has an authorised abstraction volume of 10,000 m3 a year,  The zones dominated by wasteland are the home of many species
or 27 m3 a day.                                                      of insects, such as the swallowtail butterfly and the blue-winged
                                                                     grasshopper, very rare in the region away from the slag heaps.
This reservoir constitutes proof that the rock does contain water    As for the more wooded slopes, they are home to many woodland
reserves, even though the presence of faults in many places splits   bird species, such as the green woodpecker, the great spotted
up the seams.                                                        woodpecker and the chaffinch.

In the course of the construction work, an overflow was found in     Landmarks in the countryside, the slag heaps are also stopping-off
the existing subterranean water network, passing some 10 me-         points for migrating birds.
tres below the fire station.Two inspection chambers were thus
planned, one close to the sports field and the other on the ma-      As for the wet zones, these offer shelter and nesting opportunities
noeuvring area.                                                      to aquatic and semi-aquatic species such as waders, amphibians,
                                                                     dragonflies and other insects.

                                                                     A number of these wetland species, such as the dragonfly and
                                                                     natterjack toad, are there on account of the slag heap.

                                                                     Protecting the wet zones and planning for ecological corridors
                                                                     between them and the slag heap were imperative to preserve
                                                                     the biotope. Fencing around the site has been kept to a minimum,
                                                                     only protecting facilities necessary for the fire station’s function-
                                                                     ing.The rest of the site is left to the local species.Two ponds and
                                                                     two “scree slopes” made of stones found when excavating the
                                                                     site have been constructed to provide a habitat for small animals
                                                                     and insects.
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