Contaminated water, there is trichlorethylene in Carpena wells. “The stop? Delayed by flood”

Forlì, 20 April 2024 – The ordinance goes back to March 29, 2024two days before Easterbut the analyzes that led to the ban to withdraw water from wells in a large area in the Carpena area It has much longer roots. This is what emerged from the meeting held on Thursday afternoon in the town hall, in the presence of the environment councilor Giuseppe Petetta and numerous technicians from the ASL and Arpae, who spoke with the citizens and answered all their questions.

The perimeter of thered zone‘ goes from via Piretta to the border of the airport area and from here eastwards to viale Bidente, then from there, including the Ronco farm, to the left hydrographic side of the river of the same name. The reason is the presence of organochlorines in the groundwater. Before starting, Petetta wanted to make a clarification: “The ordinance is the result of a precautionary approach on what it is a potential risk and arose from analyzes carried out in the time necessary to identify any contamination”.

The ‘necessary time’, in the eyes of a non-expert, it is certainly very long: in fact, everything began in 2022. “There was a site contaminated by hydrocarbons – says the Ausl technical team – for which the owner proceeded with remediation”. Warning: when we talk about hydrocarbons we are talking about very different substances from organochlorines which triggered the ordinance, in fact there is talk of a now decommissioned fuel depot. “During the procedure – continues the technique – organochlorines slightly higher than the law were also identified”. Not high enough, therefore, to trigger the ban. If it weren’t for the fact that the owner of the land, with the aim of ‘exculpating’ himself from the possibility that the carcinogenic substance was his responsibility, he proceeded privately also to the analysis of wells on neighboring land: “Here the concentration was decidedly greater”. We are in June 2023, but no ordinance has yet been issued.

“Why? – asks someone from the audience – In the meantime we have continued to water our gardens, to give water to our animals…” The ‘fault’, once again, lies partly with the flood: “At that moment – ​​assures the technique – all layers they encountered problems and the findings were unreliable. Plus the procedure for identifying the contamination and understanding if it is still active it is very complexbecause the aquifer continues to move, not to mention that there are formal acts required by law that must be respected.” In short, according to the experts, the times were ‘technical’. “Among other things – the Ausl expert intervenes – let’s remember that those who use well water in a certain sense do so at their own risk, given that many external agents are known to can intervene in contamination. Our task is to enter the field with ad hoc bans when the general risk transforms into a specific danger”. As in this case.

Among those present there are those who ask to have the precise list of organochlorines detected in water (that of organochlorines, in fact, is a large family, the danger of which is also very different from one element to another). The technique responds with a scientific name which then simplifies for the use of non-experts: “Let’s talk about trichlorethylene”. Now the protocol requires let experts identify the cause, “but the process – the technicians immediately extinguish all hope – will be long”. There are those who ask if they can be safe drawing from an artesian well 35 meters deep and the answer is: “No: it is true that our measurements concern water taken at 15 meters, but 35 is not yet considered deep. Safer instead, around 80 metres”. Others ask if, by carrying out private analyses, it is possible to go back to using their own well and here comes another “no, because even if the contaminant were not present today, it would not be a guarantee for the future, given the mobility of the aquifers”.

There are also those who seem to doubt of real contaminationbut is immediately blocked by the Arpae technique: “The health risks are not high, but it is a fact that the aquifer is compromised, just as it is a fact that we are faced with a serious problem that cannot be resolved quickly” .