«The sea starts from the land. If we abandon the mountains, rivers, ditches and streams to decay and neglect, if the sewers drain 100 meters from the shore, if we pour sewage or let the purification pipes deteriorate, the result is a disaster “. Silvio Greco, one of the most authoritative Italian biologists, a native of Vibo Valentia and director of the Anton Dohrn zoological station in Naples, which also has an office in Amendolara, in the Upper Ionian Sea of Cosenza, is on the Vettoria oceanographic boat which is sifting the Tyrrhenian from Tortora in Nicotera to definitively return clean sea to Calabria. Region, in which, on that stretch of coast, several blue flags also wave: Tortora, Praia a Mare, San Nicola Arcella, Santa Maria del Cedro, Diamante. The others, and there are 12, on the Ionian Sea, from Roseto Capo Spulico to Siderno.
Research by the Anton Dohrn Institute in Calabria
His institute, which is a public research body (recently included in the top ten for world marine biology), has signed an agreement with the Region to map the purifiers and verify their operation, proceeding with accurate sampling of the water, sludge and sand to track down bacteria, viruses and other organisms. At the disposal of the research, a ceiling of approximately 1 million euro to cover expenses only.
Biologists, authorities and prosecutors to save the sea
An operation never carried out before, which goes hand in hand with the interventions already started by the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza and, specifically, by the Prosecutors of Vibo Valentia and that of Lamezia (with seizures and judicial control activities on industrial settlements pollutants). Port authorities are also involved, led by Giuseppe Sciarrone for a few months. The objective is “to combat the phenomenon of pollution of inland waters and the sea”. The problem is always upstream and often it is infractions and crimes that cause it. “A common intervention strategy was agreed with the prosecutor of Vibo Valentia and a technical table was set up by the Region which is changing the approach to the problem of pollution from poor purification”, said the chief prosecutor of Lamezia Terme Salvatore Curcio.
Trailerable pumps, malfunctioning pipelines, sea sewers
«Even a storm in Sila can become an ecological bomb. The sea is a recipient body and is affected by the damage caused to the whole ecosystem ”, explains Greco. And he also calls into question the management of tourism, with beaches and villages that most of the time they unload into the sea: “They do it at night, with trailerable pumps, while instead they will have to equip themselves with purifiers”, adds the biologist. In the province of Vibo Valentia, near Bivona, in the middle of the Costa degli Dei, the Sant’Anna stream was closed: «It was a sewer that has now been conveyed to the Porto Salvo treatment plant. The results are already tangible, a few more days and the sea will return to crystal clear », ensures Greco. Criticalities also identified in the Gioia Tauro area with a pipeline leaking in two points, 100 meters from the coast.
Urgent interventions
“It will be necessary to replace or repair the marine pipelines, whose function is to disperse the treated material offshore, with the currents that act as diffusers, without bacteria”, adds the scientist from Vibon who has plumbed the seabed with a ” rov ”, self-guided vehicle with five cameras, with which it is possible to make direct observation of the marine environment. “In many cases there are malfunctioning plants, with the turbines of the lifting pumps burned, in which we found sand and sludge up to 100 tons – he continues -. It will be necessary to change the pumps, clean up the accumulated material and perform the cleaning of ditches and streams. At the end of the research he will deliver the results to the judiciary ».