The Calabrian Coast Guard has recently concluded a vast operation, coordinated by the Marine Environmental Control Center of the Maritime Directorate of Reggio Calabria, aimed at countering illicit actions to safeguard the marine environment and the territory.
The focus of the activity, which is part of a broader national environmental protection operation promoted by the General Command, is to ascertain violations relating to the serious phenomenon of irregular industrial, domestic and urban water discharges. These factors, together with the lack of waste water treatment and the poor functionality of purification plants, today appear to be one of the main causes of pollution of waterways and seas.
The operation in question was carried out through the use of men from the environmental police units of the Calabrian Coast Guard, who, through widespread reconnaissance of the territory and in-depth investigative activities, carried out 1,898 inspections, detecting 67 criminal offenses and 81 administrative offenses , which led to the criminal seizure of 28 commercial activities and waste water purification plants serving the municipalities falling within the jurisdiction.
The total administrative sanctions assessed and contested against offenders amount to an amount of up to approximately 900,000 euros. The sectors most paid attention to during the inspection activity were the wastewater treatment plants coming from urban settlements and various types of production activities (car washes, fuel distribution stations, oil mills, car demolition plants and aggregate processing). The Corps of Captaincies of the Corps – Coast Guard, as a direct functional and operational expression of the Ministry of the Environment in matters of supervision and protection of the marine ecosystem, will continue to deploy its various operational components: from the air to the naval and underwater, from mobile environmental laboratories to inspectors specialized in navigation safety to guarantee the protection of the marine and coastal environment.
