(ANSA) – GENOA, JULY 1 – River mouths are confirmed once again as the most critical points for marine pollution, demonstrating that there remains an upstream problem, linked to purification systems. This was explained by representatives of Legambiente who presented the data from the 38th Goletta Verde campaign, which started in Liguria. Of the 23 points sampled along the coast by Legambiente volunteers, 10 samples taken at the mouths of rivers and canals, and 13 taken at sea, 11 were found to be outside the legal limits and five of these were found to be heavily polluted, as established by Legambiente for samples that exceed more than double the regulatory limits.
“The monitoring highlighted various critical issues – explained Federica Barbera, spokesperson for Goletta Verde – and we found the greatest critical issues at the mouths of the rivers.
A confirmation of the fact that we must work on improving the efficiency of purification, also because we must remember that we have four infringement procedures underway, one of which has already resulted in a pecuniary sanction. The most critical issues are in Santo Stefano al Mare, Pietra Ligure, Santa Margherita Ligure, Monterosso al Mare, which were among the most heavily polluted sites, but the Ligurian stop was extremely interesting also because on the one hand we talked about the critical issues, such as those of the Gulf of La Spezia with what is happening to Palmaria, with a tourism development that is not attentive to the environment, but we also addressed good practices, we talked about how aquaculture can become sustainable”. But the Goletta Verde data also highlight another problem, the one related to free beaches, which are often in the most polluted areas. “The situation in Liguria regarding free beaches is the worst in absolute terms among the Italian regions – underlines Stefano Bigliazzi, president of Legambiente Liguria – because it has less in percentage than other Italian regions, and most are polluted since they are located at the mouths of rivers. And yet, according to the data provided by the Region, they would be included in the positive statistics”. (ANSA).
