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All true Im afraid - Gela is a disaster - used as a dumping ground and cheap source of wealth by certain parties since the 1960's and is now paying the price - It is not just the mafia who is at fault, but central government who, before tangentopoli, used Gela to clawback huge amonts of money from the appalti and leave the place to rot. ��Gela has 1 in 6 children born with serious disorders, and the govt say it is in line with figures - whatever that means. ��It would be suicide for Rome to admit they are responsible - though nowadays it seems that they say what they like and nobody takes a blind bit of notice. ��The new mayor of Gela has requested the presence of the army to counteract the organised crime. ��Fortunately it is a small area that is affected, the geology and topography of the area mean that Gela sits in a natural basin on the edge of the Iblea, and the ill effects dont spread east to the province of Ragusa.

��when Abruzzo was in the news for its major dump at Bussi it was all locals that were involved ... from the regional people that were taking money to turn eyes... to the local lorry drivers taking the waste and dumping it virtually in their childrens drinking water... ��now the whole area wehn you drive through is all greened over and many foreigners still buy there ... the facts that took so long to be brought out ...now buried... the Pescara valley once more back to normal ...the only sign is that Pescara cannot get a blue flag cause the river pollutes the water into the sea so much... ��but am sure the water company that supplies all those areas is pumping again from sources that were closed when the stories were in the papers... and these are very dangerous levels ...not like gela...as it has a huge cocktail of problems...��it never ceases to amaze me how easily local populations get involved in killing themeselves and their children and childrens children... ��from it being organised by various mafias... but they are not digging holes or driving lorries.. to local mayors that send their children to schools that they know will fall down one day on someones child... sometimes i think blaming Rome for all the woes of the world... this is a story that is common both north and south is an easy way of locals being able to salve their consiences when they were the ones helping to build or bury these problems...������

��I agree - Gela has its petrochemicals and refineries from teh UDC in the 1960s and 70's fulfilling the wish list of Sicilians wanting employment, and then imposing the plant on an unwilling population. ��At the time Gela was the obvious choice for importing Libyan oil and gas - and local politicians are to blame for turning a blind eye to abuses. ��HOwever, the plants at Gela and priolo were imposed by central government (and ENEL and others) to keep costs down and maximise profits. �� the same is true of the current government plan to build a nucelar power station 6km from teh Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, which nobody wants, (other than the usual people who mix alot of cement), but central govt has decided that Agrigento is a perfect place for a nuccelar station despite a high seismic risk, a world heritage site and no water.������

I am very concerned that Bussi and the water pollution is being 'forgotten' by all but a few campaigners. The earthquake in Aquila killed many people and left even more homeless but over the long term I'm convinced that Bussi is the bigger diaster of the two for Abruzzo.I almost felt like crying during the scene in Gomorrah where the barrels of toxic waste were being dumped very convieniently in a quarry ready to be covered over and left . It was just too near to the truth of what's happeneing and a real tradgedy.I cant drink tap water at our house in Abruzzo anymore- last time I was there and drinking water for a period of over a month I started getting quite severe gastric problems with irration to my lungs and throat��- I tried everthing then decided to stop drinking water fromthe tap or using it to make tea or coffee.My symotons dissappeared in a few days and after a week I was fine. Most times I've drunk this water I've felt unwell and as soon as I stop I feel ok again.As a person who is in the business of selling property in Abruzzo I salut Adriatica for raising this subject here. Mostly I find that anyone who stands to make money in anyway from Abruzzo refuses to face up to the fact that there are matters of environmental concern there.I personally cannot understand any agency or person who would knowingly advertise or promote a house in a place which is dangerously contaminated anywhere in the world - not only in Italy.

I agree. For me reading Gomorrah was intensely depressing. Such a beautiful country being raped over and over again.��Has anyone ever had the water on their land tested for contamination? I would especially be interested to know if any companies do tests for toxic waste and pesticide contamination not the usual alkalinity nitrates etc.����

��well in the pescara valley area where the tragedy of Bussi occured the wwf and the legaambiente ran their own tests to try and stop the water company poisoning their clients... despite legal cases being taken against them publishing the facts the truth eventually came out ... the water companies here are often small...very behind the times and part of the system where the people that control...ie the health authorities... are very much hand in hand with each other... and basically no one is prepared to upset apple carts .. the water company operating in that peacar valley area are well ehind times in any case... people in chieti and pecara and ��southern teramo served by this comapny often have no water during the summer...apartments without water above the second floor because no presure... ��and they refused depite the knowledge that one well they were pumping from was unfit to use and a couple of others ...due to more toxic dumps of less toxicity were also dangerous... ��i presume that they sneaked these wells back on line during the summer to allow water flow through the tap... as Becky says most probably due to in attention to this problem because of L'Aquila...these problems are throughout Italy...not reserved to either south or central Italy... i have written before about problems in other places that one would least expect ... people often forget that Italy once had a nuclear generting capacity.... these plants when closed were then supposed to be de commisioned and the waste placed safely ... their are many hot spots in Italy... one notably close to Rome ... where this waste despite funding has never been made secure... and is and continues to leak into the air and the ground... �� all these things do get published in weekly journals here in Italy but quickly get passed over for the next tragedy... basically because the comune, provincial and regional governments are all involved in taking cuts ... these are then aligned with the magistrature..��my conclusion is that you have two massicve problems in Italy... Communism and the Mafia... ��in a sense the same form of control exercised by both... extremism and inefficiency.. forget Berlusconi... one can laugh at him and his excesses... its the underlying mentatility of the minor players here in terms of public life and crimality which affects all of us... and with a magistratura closely aligned via intellectual left to communist traditions that have even died out in the eastern block but maintained here because it protects their positions and their wealth ... which in turn is aligned with the mainly far left ��or mafia controlled local goverment ��nothing but nothing ever comes out and no one ever gets held to account...they are all related and in each others pockets...��my advice is to be aware...get to know locals that know all thats behind everything...if they are buying botteld water ...especailley say the local doctor or your vet... all with access to ASL investigations which are never published .. join the WWF in Italy or at least get on their website...and the lega-ambiente... ��they know more stuff than anyone else what is going on behind closed doors... ��

��"my conclusion is that you have two massicve problems in Italy... Communism and the Mafia..."I think its a rather simplistic conclusion. �� Communism in Italy is now only a shadow evoked by Berlusconi to shroud wave about any protest or opinion that is different to his. ��The communists of all shades - (democratic communist party - what is that?), have litle or no power locally or nationally any more. ��The unfortunate truth is the remodelled fascist parties hold much more power throughout Italy than the far left. ��Even the communist stronghold of Bologna is now a very pink version of its former self. ����The magistracy is politcial its true, but they work with a constitution and raft of laws that no government has thought to remodel, and have the power and the obligation to pursue 'political' cases. �� Nobody goes to prison because the system (not the magistrates) allow exorbitant periods of time for investigations and court cases resulting in the whole case being shelved because of a statute of limitations. ��When one law is introduced it does not replace the former, but is merely added on the top - allowing lawyers to have a field day in 'interpreting the law' so a clear judgement is never reached.��The mafia is a catch all word for organised crime - the MAfia itself, although still active in Sicily, is a small part of the organised crime endemic in Italy - the Camorra now has an annual income of over 30 billion euros. �� the Ndrangheta is probably second in overall influence- ��you only have to see the news this weekend of a scuttled ship off the Calabrian coast to see it is thriving. �� It is a mistake to attribute all ills to the Mafia, it is much more subtle than that.��

It is a pity that in fact there is a lot of polluted territory in the world. They adhere to order only in cities with a large number of tourists. This is very bad and very harmful to the planet we live on. Have you noticed how dirty the air has become lately? I really like to ride a bike and participate in many races, but now it becomes very difficult to do. I liked the article , which everyone should read. Little known fact, but the first bicycles came to China back in 1866, when an official named Bingchun returned from a diplomatic trip to Europe after seeing a bicycle in Paris. This is for general development.