Fontana: “A ‘Vibo Valentia model’ to address and resolve the environmental critical issues present in an area of extraordinary beauty”
Press release
The meeting entitled “Fiumiinforma”, organized by the environmental association, was held on Tuesday afternoon in the Green Station of Santa Domenica di Ricadi (VV), managed by the local Legambiente club.
Speakers included the president of the Legambiente Ricadi club Franco Saragò, the regional president of Legambiente Anna Parretta, the Prosecutor of the Republic of Vibo Valentia Camillo Falvo, the provincial Commander of the Carabinieri Luca Toti, the Commander of the Port Authority Luigi Spalluto, the Commander of the Environmental and Agri-food Police Unit of Vibo Valentia Clizia Lutzu, the Commander of the Carabinieri biodiversity department of Mongiana Rocco Pelle and the director of the Territory and Environmental Protection Department of the Region Salvatore Siviglia.
The Prosecutor of the Republic of Vibo Valentia, Camillo Falvo, after having illustrated the enormous efforts made in the last three years by the judiciary and by the specialties of the law enforcement agencies involved in the specially created task force – which intervenes practically “in real time” every time an environmental problem related to the water pollution – highlighted how complex the existing problems are, the result of decades of neglect and negligence. According to Prosecutor Falvo there is a need for important structural interventions and, above all, to act preventively rather than repressively, spreading the culture of respect for the environment among the operators of the various production sectors and among ordinary people, in a work of true and own literacy on the subject. He also underlined how we should not worry about the health of the sea and waterways only in the summer period, neglecting their existence or, worse, polluting in the rest of the year.
For its part, the manager of the Territory and Environmental Protection Department of the Salvatore Siviglia Region, highlighted the structural activities carried out in recent years by the Region for the efficiency of the purification system, collection and against illegal disposal.
Various interventions were made by local mayors, representatives of institutions, tourist operators, trade associations including Confindustria and the Federation of Hoteliers, and the world of schools with the Director of the Higher Education Institute of Tropea.
During the event, the dossier developed by the Legambiente circles of the province of Vibo Valentia based on careful analysis of the state of the rivers was presented.
“The report is not intended to replace in any way the sampling and activities carried out by the competent authorities – explained the president of Legambiente Ricadi, Franco Saragò – and starts from the awareness that the prevailing cause of the criticality of the sea is determined, to a significant extent, by the contribution of substances coming from waterways, which originate from the hinterland to reach the sea, due to the malfunctioning and/or undersizing of some purifiers, from the lack of sewerage collection and illegal discharges”.
A monitoring campaign that connects ideally and concretely with the historic campaign of Legambiente Goletta Verde which has been sailing the seas for over thirty years to document and report abuses and non-compliance and with Goletta dei Laghi.
An important opportunity to address the great issue of purification, but also other critical issues such as the spillage of waste, with the presence of real small and large landfills along the rivers, in particular plastic which, in addition to jeopardizing the flow of water, flora and fauna end up in the sea, invade the beaches and pollute the environment, creating very serious problems for marine ecosystems and human health. And also indiscriminate cutting of trees, obstructions and artificial barriers of watercourses, illegal construction which contribute to creating strong risk situations, also from a hydrogeological point of view, destined to increase in connection with the increase in extreme meteorological events as a result of the climate crisis.
The dossier, illustrated by member of the Legambiente Ricadi club, Caterina Viscomi,examines the microbiological parameters (Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci) of some waterways through 11 sampling points in the municipalities of Pizzo, Vibo Valentia, Briatico, Zambrone, Parghelia, Joppolo and Nicotera. It is important to highlight that the critical issues encountered, in some environmentally serious cases such as the emblematic case of Parghelia, are referable not only to the Municipalities in which the sampling took place but also to the inland Municipalities located along all the reference river channels. The most significant data, in terms of exceeding the legal limits, concern in particular the withdrawals carried out in the La Grazia and La Morte streams, Fosso Bevilacqua, Rivo Zinzolo, Fosso La Badessa.
“The future of the Calabria region and its inhabitants – said Anna Parretta president of Legambiente Calabria– passes from the protection, safeguarding and care of the territory and the sea. In this context, waterways are complex and extremely important ecosystems whose protection must be rigorous, even more so in a historical phase in which the water resource is even more precious. Through the monitoring carried out, which we hope to replicate in other territories, we wanted to create an opportunity for meeting and discussion to activate shared processes with all the actors involved that lead to the solution of problems and to encourage the active participation of citizens.”
In Calabria, according to the data collected in the last five editions of Legambiente’s “Ecomafia Report”, around 14 thousand crimes against the environment have been confirmed, placing Calabria in fourth place in the national ranking, after Campania, Sicily and Puglia, confirming the close correlations that exist between criminal aggression against the environment and the interests of the mafias, from the illegal waste cycle to the cement cycle. Vibo Valentia, as an index of environmental illegality per km2 of territory, was the second province of Calabria from 2017 to 2022, with 0.95 crimes ascertained by the police, preceded only by that of Reggio Calabria, with 1 environmental crime per every km2 of territory.
“Calabria combines the great beauty of its sea and its territory – concluded Enrico Fontana, head of the National Environment and Legality Observatory– still unsustainable situations relating to purification, illegal construction, poor management of the waste cycle, which affect waterways reaching the coasts. What emerged from the initiative organized by Legambiente is a real “Vibo Valentia model”, already developed by the prosecutor Falvo with the collaboration of the police forces and the port authority, thanks to the extraordinary citizen science work of the volunteers and the volunteers of the Legambiente clubs, to the environmental education projects to be developed in local schools, to the initiatives illustrated by the regional manager of Seville, to the participation of mayors and trade associations. A “model” that needs to be given concrete form immediately before the summer season starts.”
Tags: Fiumiinforma data pollution waterways Vibo area presented
