Overview
Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution
Cedre
is a non-profit-making association acting as an operator for
the French State. It was created in 1978, in the aftermath of
the Amoco Cadiz oil spill, in a bid to be more fully prepared
for accidental water pollution and to strengthen the national
response organisation. It is responsible, on a national scale,
for documentation, research and experimentation on pollutants,
their effects and the response means and tools that can be used
to combat them. Its role as an advisory body and its expertise
encompass both marine and inland waters. It is financed both
by government subsidies and by public and private contracts.
It is available around the clock for national and local authorities in charge of response to accidental water pollution according to the legislation in force, whatever the extent of the pollution. The authorities can request specialists to be sent to their response centre or crisis unit.
Cedre has an assembly of members, a board of governors which elects its office and president and a managing director for everyday running of the association. The representatives of the State and public organisations hold a statutory majority on the board of governors. Cedre’s offices, technical facilities and the majority of its personnel are based in Brest, Brittany. There are also two regional delegates, one for the Mediterranean, in Toulon, and the other for the Caribbean, in Fort-de-France.
Cedre manages an annual budget of around 4.5 million Euros. A little over half comes from subsidies and contracts with members of the association or public and professional bodies. The rest comes from institutional (municipalities, European Union, States, institutes) and industrial contracts.
Cedre’s activity is overseen by a strategic committee, whose president participates in the meetings of the board of governors. The activities are divided into three distinct categories.
- The
associative activity fulfils the association’s
public service mission. This is financed by a subsidy from the
French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development and Planning
and by reimbursement for pollution intervention.
- Shared-cost
contracts are contracts agreed with members of the
association as part of an annual technical program and national
and European research contracts, which involve the participation
of Cedre’s own resources. The results of these contracts
can be accessed by all the members of the association.
- Service delivery contracts involve work carried out within a competitive context, for public or private clients, who are the sole owners of the results.
Cedre is managed by an employed director, acting by delegation of the president of the board of governors. The personnel are distributed between two operational divisions and an administration and finance department.
The “Response and Response Means” Division covers research, experimentation and response to emergency situations. The “Response Preparedness” Division covers contingency planning, training and information activities.
Cedre's premises (source: Cedre)
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presentation brochure (450 Ko) 
Cedre presentation video 
Experimentation in the laboratory. (source: Cedre).
The experimentation hall. (source: Cedre)