(Decanter) - Winemakers are furious that the tar plant set to sit between Chablis and Irancy in Burgundy has been approved without their consent.

Tar contains hydrocarbon molecules that may contaminate grapes through both air and water supply, they argue.

Plans for the plant say that it will be located in Saint-Cyr-les-Colons and will produce 500 tonnes of asphalt per hour with a life expectancy of 25 years. That is likely to require vast amounts of fuel.

Asphalt is commonly known as tar and any produced by the new plant will be used to widen the existing A6 motorway linking Paris to Lyon.

‘The project has arrived at near sign-off – even passing through the National Appellations Institute – without those of us who will be directly affect being given any opportunity to react,’ said Julian Brocard, of Domaines Jean-Marc Brocard.

‘There are plenty of other sites that we have identified, and even offered to purchase on their behalf, that takes the industrial plant to a safe distance from the vines and other population centres,’ he told Decanter.com.