“We are against the simplified environmental procedures being examined by the provincial commission.” Thus Dina Merlo and the mayoral candidate Edoardo Gaffeo draw attention to the request for a simplified procedure (Via screening) presented by a waste storage site in via Amendola, for the construction of a very high temperature treatment plant for waste, including special waste and dangerous.
Merlo, former councilor for environmental policies of the Gaffeo team and exponent of the Citizens’ Forum, urges the application of the provisions of the law: “The environmental impact assessment is a guarantee procedure for citizens and for local bodies and institutions which is necessary whenever a system of a certain complexity and which may cause impacts on the environment, on people’s health and on safety, is subjected to authorization by a competent public body”.
Mayoral candidate Edoardo Gaffeo recalls that, with his administration in office, “the Municipality of Rovigo and other bodies had already highlighted critical issues and possible consequences for citizens, the environment and public health in recent months. We have strongly requested the Province that, when faced with the authorization of a hazardous waste treatment plant at high temperatures, an environmental impact assessment procedure is applied for all in-depth analyses, technical checks and comparisons, as already required by law, to protect the health of citizens”.
It is clear that a simplified decision in a case like this, “not supported by sufficient analyzes and assessments carried out according to legal procedures with maximum guarantee, could represent a direct liability both in political, administrative, technical and legal terms, on the basis of the respect for the rules and towards citizens”.
Merlo and Gaffeo underline how the Via procedure also better protects entities in relation to any liability profiles in the event that potential risks to people’s health and environmental safety emerge: “There is a direct responsibility referable to precise legal requirements both with regards to compliance with procedures provided for by law but above all for the direct consequences on environmental aspects and people’s health” recalls Merlo.
For this reason Gaffeo, as a former mayor and candidate for the local elections next June, invites the Province to carry out, also in the specific case of the plant in via Amendola, the role of rigorous control and verification that the law assigns, implementing all the procedures with greater guarantees, with a view to a common sense of responsibility towards citizens.
