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This article explores the interactions between environmental measurement, science and politics in the case of conflicts over the development of the industrialized territory of Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône). It describes the scientific and environmental policy of Ouest Provence, a local authority heavily involved since the 2000s in the conflictual development of the maritime industrial territory. We analyze issues pertaining to the implementation of measurement as a public policy instrument, as well as its social and political consequences. We suggest that the proactive science policy developed by a local public actor serves here as an instrument for the local government of risk and environmental issues. Thus, the objectives of knowledge and prevention displayed at the intercommunal level mask a will for hegemony on environmental issues, allowing also a claim on territoriality.