Naples Waste Crisis Stinks of Organized Crime
Thu, Jun 28, 2007
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Piled up on the streets of Naples and its province Campania, lie thousands of tonnes of rubbish, uncollected and now rotting in the heat wave, which has soared through southern Europe. Authorities scrabble to find temporary waste dumps. The atmosphere is volatile. It stinks.
“The television reports we have all seen showing piles of garbage rotting in the streets of Campania or set on fire by angry residents have been truly shocking,” Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement. Because of this, on Wednesday the EU took the first steps that could lead to a landmark case against Italy in the European Court of Justice, the EU’s top court.
Campania, has always been problematic for waste – in 1994 it even declared a state of emergency. Despite this, organized crime and local incompetency have failed to stop this desperate situation. Locals have no choice but to dump, or rather burn their household waste in the streets. This, of course adds to pollution.
Brussels issued a statement: “Reflecting the urgency and gravity of the situation, the Commission is giving Italy one month to respond to its warning letter instead of the usual two-month deadline.” They noted that if the crisis persists, serious health and environmental risks are imminent through the spread of disease and through the pollution of water, air and land.
The EU also said it was checking whether four planned new waste landfill sites in Campania meet EU law and if they will help solve the waste problems, especially in the longer term.
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3 Trackbacks For This Post
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hugg - environmental news Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 5:06 pmNaples Waste Crisis Stinks of Organized Crime…
Piled up on the streets of Naples and its province Campania, lie thousands of tonnes of rubbish, uncollected and now rotting in the heat wave, which has soared through southern Europe. Authorities scrabble to find temporary waste dumps. The atmosph…
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plantchange.com Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 5:17 pmNaples Waste Crisis Stinks of Organized Crime…
Piled up on the streets of Naples and its province Campania, lie thousands of tonnes of rubbish, uncollected and now rotting in the heat wave, which has soared through southern Europe. Authorities scrabble to find temporary waste dumps. The atmosphere …
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British Producers Responsible for Their Customers’ WEEE » Says:
October 13th, 2007 at 6:14 pm[...] The UK is currently producing 1.2 million tones of waste per annum, of which e-waste (PCs, games consoles, microwaves and washing machines) is the fastest-growing form in the EU. Up until now, most of the electronic waste would go to landfill, prompting fears that we might end up with a similar waste crisis to that of Naples. [...]
February 14th, 2008 at 1:07 am
VIDEO – Waste emergency in Campania: buffaloes graze in landfill!
The mayor of Salerno (Campania, Italy) speaks on a channel of Italian public broadcasting company about the waste emergency in Campania. (27th January 2008)
The mayor Vincenzo De Luca defines as “exceptional” the mozzarella made in Campania.
But take a look on where buffaloes graze near Salerno, in the landfill of Sardone. These images have been taken on 21st January 2008, some days before mayor De Luca’s interview.
The landfill of Sardone, at 5 Km from Salerno, has been for years one of the biggest sonorous scandals of the Campania politics.
Here is the short video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCaWRfFwsmc
May 21st, 2008 at 11:27 am
What is going on in Naples is terrible. This is what happens when the mafia rules the garbages and the politics are corrupt. Naples is a great city.