Malagrotta, an environmental scandal in the region of Rome. Every day, 4,500 tonnes of rubbish ends up in this tip, without being pretreated or recycled. Condemned by the EU to be closed, the site risks being replaced by another tip. The village of Riano is opposed to a mountain of rubbish emerging on their land. Francesco's family has been sorting their waste for some years. Take the paper from your cake and throw it in there. A gesture that seems obvious to this family, but for the city and the region of Rome it isn't yet. Only 20% of the Italian capital's waste is separated for collection. The rest ends up in the same place. While the EU is fighting against mixed-waste tips, a new tip of this sort could be opened here in this quarry in Riano. Maurizio, an inhabitant of the village, is firmly opposed to the project. He has called upon the European Parliament about this. I entered a petition against a landfill project in Pian dell'Olmo because in the third millennium it's inconceivable to bury rubbish. In this area toxic drums have been illegally buried. The man accompanying Maurizio today is a geologist. The ground water is located seven metres underground and so it's extremely close to the base of the possible tip. This water is drinkable and is used by all the houses around here. Furthermore, the tuff this old quarry is made of is a very permeable stone. Pollution could easily seep into the ground. This quarry is really small, 18,000 m2. It can contain only 80 days' worth of Rome's rubbish. In 80 days it would be completely full, so we would be in exactly the same situation: An emergency for Rome as they don't know where to put the rubbish. The village's nightmare started a year ago. Rome's current mega-tip in Malagrotta must close before the end of the year. This pretty hill actually hides 180 hectares of rubbish. Like Maurizio in Riano, Sergio has been fighting against the Malagrotta tip for years. This site embodies the worst in rubbish management, because waste is thrown in without any prior treatment. All this causes emissions, losses, liquids - terrible things. The pollution creates family tragedies. Rita lives a few hundred metres from the tip. Her husband died of cancer at 55 due to pollution from the waste, she says. It's almost like an epidemic. There are lots of cases of cancers, leukaemia, which is a type of cancer, respiratory diseases as well as skin diseases. And despite that you are still living here? Unfortunately, I don't have the means to leave. It seems absurd but I don't. This house has lost 50% of its value. The tip in Malagrotta does not respect the obligation to pretreat waste. Condemned by the EU, it should be closed at the end of 2012 and perhaps replaced by a new site, according to the province. Riano is one of the possibilities considered. Today we need to find a temporary site in view of the closure of the tip in Malagrotta. But don't get me wrong, it's not enough to find a temporary site to replace Malagrotta. We must also free ourselves from all the rubbish going to Malagrotta today. But for Maurizio, this solution is inconceivable. In the short-term, I support sending the waste abroad and then door-to-door collections in Rome and establishing recycling plants, and if necessary micro-tips, but only for treated mixed waste. In October, MEPs should come here to meet the petitioners and examine the reasons for their petition. Other sites have been proposed to temporarily replace Malagrotta, but Maurizio fears that, until the local elections which should be held in 2013, the councils will be playing pass the parcel endlessly, and that Europe's biggest tip, Malagrotta, will continue to function after 2012, even to breaking point.
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Reporter: Petitioning amidst a waste emergency romeo | |
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| News & Politics | Upload TimePublished on 12 Nov 2012 |
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