«A specter is haunting Europe», one could say by misquoting Marx and Engels. Inappropriately, as it is not about the specter of communism, as stated in the Manifesto of the same name published in 1848. However, it is true that, as the Manifesto continued, «All the powers of old Europe have united in a holy hunt against this specter». It is the specter of the Ravenna regasification plant. Or better than petition written by Eng. Riccardo Merendi and variously and time after time signed by political groups, associations and ordinary citizens. Among which Ravenna in the Municipality. A petition which, if in the subtext expresses opposition to the LNG terminal itself, has as an explicit request that of a review of the very hasty procedure that led to the authorization by Commissioner Bonaccini. We remember that in 120 days, the time needed to mature a cheese in a pit, the OK was given to the one that for Piero Angela represented at risk level «the most catastrophic accident imaginable among all energy sources». To succeed in breaking who knows what record, essential procedures such as the EIA and the Seveso checks on major industrial risks were skipped. Unlike what is being done in Vado Ligure instead. It is not enough. The «hasty cat makes kittens blind», as they say. And so the rush led to a series of oversights and errors that made a variation necessary a few months after obtaining the authorization. But it wasn’t enough and the pile of flaws that the hasty project brought with it was promptly made the subject of a series of reports, first, and petitions, then, by the engineer. Snacks to obtain, as mentioned, a review of the procedure and a definitive correction.
Bonaccini’s policy at all levels was to raise a wall to defend SNAM. Both the reports and the petitions were therefore rejected on principle both in Ravenna, Bologna and Rome. The last drama it took place in Commission II at the Region (president Manuela Rontini, the piddina from Faenza) on 5 March. The registration of the meeting, for those interested in involuntary comedy, it’s available in the regional archives. In practice, the session took place with the negative response to the petition already ready on the table. Councilor Vincenzo Colla spoke (sad figure of a former trade unionist who spent his time on the business side) who, after a long useless speech that talked about something else (investments, international politics, etc.) concluded verbatim with a «Nothing to report». Having taken note of the technical nature of the observations in the petition, President Rontini has made it known that she will inform the Regulations Commission of the opportunity to give it a break with the possibility of presenting others. In the face of democracy. Eng. then spoke. Paolo Ferrecchi, General Director in charge of care of the territory and the environment. Man of absolute trust of the “governor” so much so that he was appointed Commissioner of the Port Authority of Ravenna during the period of suspension of President Daniele Rossi for the well-known Berkan affair. B. Ferrecchi completely missed the opportunity for a review of the procedures due to of the mass of design errors and instead focused on the sole aspect of ministerial approval of a route different from the one subsequently modified by SNAM to meet the needs of a local developer (Ritmo group). According to Ferrecchi it was a clerical error that must not be remedied as others (such as the sole representative of state administrations) have instead accepted the current path. Colla finally placed the stone over the possibility of a revision. To those who pointed out to him that an extra check, given the risk, doesn’t hurt, he replied that «it’s bad, yes it’s bad». There are too many big interests at stake to waste time. And then you told everyone to stop saying that they are getting fracking gas from the United States. With so much of a vote that she silenced everyone.
Therefore, illustrious councilor, should we remain silent about the fact that American LNG is shale gas extracted precisely through highly polluting fracking? If we exclude Panigaglia, the only Italian regasification terminal unusable by US ships due to limited seabed, a third of LNG arrivals between last year and this year in Italy it came from the USA. And why hide it? Perhaps because the replacement of the cheap Russian gas that arrived via pipeline with the expensive LNG transported by dangerous methane tankers was demanded by the United States itself?
The specter of the petition, despite the operation keeping everyone quiet, as mentioned, is wandering around Europe. Indeed, in the EU itself, an investigation will be launched with the Commission in charge. As Ravenna in Municipality we invite citizens to support the petition. The link to subscribe can be found on Riccardo Merendi’s blog https://riccardomerendi.altervista.org/ or on our site http://www.ravennaincomune.it/wp/ (The specter of the regasifier haunts the EU, 29 April 2024). Without prejudice to the indispensability of a transition towards sustainable and renewable energy, in fact, it is clear that the use of LNG is an imperial diktat imposed on a colony such as Italy. Hiding this and the enormous risks it entails as Bonaccini & co would like. it is not acceptable.”
Ravenna in the Municipality
