Goletta Verde on the coast of Campania: 14 points out of 31 were found to be above the legal limits

Legambiente: “Even in Campania the data are not the best, despite more than half of the sampled points not being beyond the legal limits. We need to monitor and protect the health of our coasts!”

Here is the interactive monitoring map, with sampling points and analysis results.

There are 31 sampling points that the volunteers of Goletta Verde have monitored on the Campania coast again this year, in the usual citizen science activity that the association has been carrying out for more than 30 years. 14 are the points that exceed the legal limit and 17 are those that are within that limit.

This is the photograph taken by the volunteers of Goletta Verde, the historic Legambiente campaign dedicated to monitoring and providing information on the state of health of the Italian coasts and waters, who sampled Campania between 19 and 30 June 2022.

This morning in Naples, during the press conference, Katiuscia Eroe, Spokesperson Goletta Verde; Francesca Ferro, Director Legambiente Campania; Francesco Esposito, Scientific Office Legambiente Campania; Paolo Mancuso, Councilor for the Environment of the Municipality of Naples; Stefano Sorvino, Director Arpa Campania; Alfredo Vaglieco, President of the Naval League of Naples, spoke about it.

This year, the Goletta Verde returns to sail the seas to address the issues of offshore wind, the fight against the climate crisis and fossil fuels; to promote marine protected areas and the protection of biodiversity, and to shine a spotlight on poor or absent purification of wastewater. The main partners of the campaign are CONOU, the National Consortium for the Management, Collection and Treatment of Used Mineral Oils, ANEV, Novamont and Renexia, AIPE partner media partner La Nuova Ecologia.

The detail of the Goletta Verde analysis

The Goletta Verde samplings are not intended to replace the official data but rather to integrate the work carried out by the competent authorities. In fact, if the Arpa data are the only ones that determine the suitability for bathing of a stretch of coast following repeated analyses in the summer period, the Goletta Verde analyses have another objective, which is to identify the critical issues due to poor purification of wastewater in specific points, such as mouths, canals and waterways, the main vehicle with which pollution, generated by insufficient purification, reaches the sea.

The analyses, carried out by laboratories identified in the territory, therefore show critical issues at the beginning of this season at some of the sampled mouths; critical issues due to the presence of bacteria of fecal origin (intestinal enterococci and escherichia coli), considered a specific marker of pollution due to poor or absent purification.

Taking a photograph at the moment in which the volunteers went to collect the water sample, on the three days of June 19 and 30, to take to local laboratories for microbiological analysis of the two bacterial targets for purification (Escherichia coli and intestinal Enterococci), the following were sampled: 5 points in the province of Caserta, 8 points in the province of Naples, 14 points in the province of Salerno and 4 points on the island of Ischia.

51% of the points were taken at critical points (mouths and channels) and the other 49% at sea, determining these results of the microbiological analyses:

· of the 16 points sampled near mouths and canals that potentially cause pollution due to poor or inefficient purification, 10 points were found to be highly polluted, 2 points were polluted and 4 points were found to be within the legal limits.

· of the 15 points, instead, which were taken at sea in proximity to known critical points and constantly monitored by the action of Goletta Verde, 2 points were found to be polluted and the remaining 13 within the legal limits.

Going into detail about the points beyond the legal limits, we can say that we found:

2 heavily polluted points in the province of Caserta, which refer to the mouth of the Savone river in Mondragone and the Regi Lagni in Castelvolturno; 2 heavily polluted points in the province of Naples, the mouth of the Licola canal, the mouth of the Sarno river, while 2 polluted points are found, the sea near the mouth of the Neffola stream in Minori and the beach in front of the S. Marco stream in Castellammare di Stabia; in the province of Salerno, however, we have 6 highly polluted points: the mouth of the Regina Minor in Minori, the mouth of the Irno river on the Salerno seafront, the mouth of the Picentino river between Salerno and Pontecagnano Faiano, the mouth of the Asa torrent in Pontecagnano/Faiano, the mouth of a drainage channel in Eboli and the mouth near the stream at via Poseidonia 441, while 2 polluted points are the mouth of the Tusciano in Pontecagnano/Battipaglia and the mouth of the Solofrone river in Capaccio/Agropoli.

64% of the points above the legal limit (9 out of 14) fall near river mouths that are not sampled by the competent authorities because they are not considered suitable for bathing, but near which there are often free beaches frequented by bathers unaware of the potential danger.

There is still too little and poor information for citizens in the Campania municipalities monitored by Goletta Verde: only in 4 of the 31 sampling points carried out were signs that define the quality of bathing waters seen.

"This year too we are recording a photograph of the Campania coasts between lights and shadows, with situations in some points of our coast that clearly show the gravity of the situation of purification in Campania. For the most serious cases, those "chronically ill" that we have been reporting for years, we will continue with our reporting actions, asking for the application of the law on Ecocrimes, to resolve the critical issues that still threaten the quality and health of our seas.

The hope is to overcome the chronic critical situation of the water cycle through the wise and prudent use of the Pnrr funds allocated for purification and for the sewage system that would finally allow us to have a modern, efficient and sustainable integrated water cycle" - says the director of Legambiente Campania Francesca Ferro.

“Even in Campania, the work carried out by the Goletta Verde volunteers is fundamental not only to continue to report what is happening in terms of poor purification and illegal discharges but also to continue to encourage the competent authorities to investigate and get to the bottom of it to find responsibilities and causes – says Katiuscia Eroe, spokesperson for Goletta Verde – Although the work of Legambiente with its historic campaign does not want to replace that of the competent authorities on the subject of bathing, it is clear that it is still necessary to report chronic situations, such as those in Campania, which deserve a resolution for environmental and quality of life reasons”.

CONOU, the National Consortium of Used Oils, renews its historic partnership for Legambiente's summer campaign. For 39 years, the Consortium has been a protagonist of the Italian circular economy, ensuring the collection and regeneration of used lubricating oils throughout the country. Thanks to the Consortium's supply chain, this waste is transformed into a precious resource, returning to new life: over 98% of the collected oil is classified as suitable for regeneration for the production of new lubricating bases. Last year, the Consortium recovered 10.157 tons of used oil in Campania.

“CONOU, in almost 40 years of activity, has collected over 6,5 million tons of lubricating oil that, if dispersed in water, would have polluted a surface area twice the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Starting from this knowledge, CONOU has always been committed to collecting used oil down to the last drop, because respecting the environment means first of all respecting ourselves.

This is the fundamental reason that unites us with Legambiente, we aim for the same objectives of Circular Economy, Environmental Protection, Social Respect" stated Marco Paolilli, Head of CONOU Coordination of the Central-Southern Area.

"In particular, used oil must be collected and regenerated: for example, by going to tourist ports, offering boaters the possibility of easily delivering their engine oil. Mineral oil is a very dangerous pollutant, even for humans: in the seas and on beaches, it can destroy the life of flora and fauna and, therefore, it must absolutely not be dispersed. Used oil must be collected in a way that allows it to be regenerated and given a new life, saving the equivalent imports and processing of oil and all the harmful or climate-altering emissions that would result from this.

A double mission, therefore, fully achieved by CONOU which sets an example for Europe and for all the emerging circular economies of other waste that we hope will be realized or continue to grow, increasingly recovering new resources instead of polluting seas and beaches.”

Scientific monitoring

The Goletta Verde samplings are carried out by technicians, volunteers and volunteers of Legambiente. The scientific office of the association has taken care of their training and coordination, identifying the laboratories in the territory. The samples for microbiological analysis are collected in sterile jars and stored in the refrigerator, until the moment of analysis, which takes place on the same day of sampling or in any case within 24 hours of the sampling. The parameters investigated are microbiological (intestinal enterococci, escherichia coli). The number of samplings carried out is defined in proportion to the Km of coast of each region.

LEGEND
With reference to the limit values ​​provided by the bathing water legislation in force in Italy (Legislative Decree 116/2008 and implementing decree of 30 March 2010), the opinions are expressed on the basis of the following scheme:

POLLUTED = Intestinal enterococci >200 UFC/100 ml and/or Escherichia Coli >500 UFC/100 ml.

HEAVILY POLLUTED = Intestinal enterococci >400 UFC/100 ml and/or Escherichia Coli >1000 UFC/100 ml.