Now
being overshadowed by the deaths of 6 Italian soldiers in the growingly
unpopular war in Afghanistan, another deadly and sinister Tragedy is
brewing. In the beckoning blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea that
surround the Italian Peninsula and its islands, and which laps at the
coasts of 22 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. A
hidden legacy of the Sea being used as a disposal site for radioactive
and other toxic wastes for over 20 years is beginning to come to light.
What some inside the halls of government are calling an international
catastrophe, runs the risk of being swept under the table once again by
an Italian Government that has been colluding and embroiled in this
ecological and public health disaster from its beginnings.
Dozens
of ships, reportedly carrying cargos of what could be thousands of
barrels of radioactive and toxic wastes have been intentionally sunk
off the shores of Italy, Spain, Greece and as far away as Africa and
Asia, by the International Ecomafia led by Calabria's ˜Ndrangheta
organized crime syndicate. This has taken place for over twenty years
and insiders in the Italian government and secret service have been
involved in covering it up. The first of these ships to be found,
thought to be called the Cunsky, has been photographed by a robot off
the coast of Cetraro, a medium sized town on the Tyrrheinan coast of
Calabria. Cancerous tumors and thyroid problems are highly prevalent
here and a growing epidemic all along the coasts of the Mediterranean
Sea. Certraro is a town known for its port by tourists all over the
world. Fish caught by the hundreds of fishemen that make their
livelihoods there are eaten throughout Italy and sold on the
International market.
The setting for this story is putting the
spotlight on the south of Italy and the regions of Calabria in the toe
of the boot, Basilicata above Calabria, Puglia in the heel, but also
Greece and Spain with repercussions for the entire Mediterranean basin.
The facts of this unfolding disaster have been documented by Greenpeace
and Italy's leading environmental organization Legambiente dating back
to the late 90's. Greenpeace has worked to trace the trail of large
Cargo Ships that have disappeared from international circulation.
Between 32 and 41 such ships are thought to have been sunk in
international waters between Italy, Greece and Spain, but mostly along
the Italian coastlines. Then, in 2005, a mafia "pentito (one who
repents) named Franceso Fonti testified of his involvement in the
sinking of three specific ships called the Cunsky, off Cetraro, the
Yvonne A off the coast of Maratea in Basilicata, and the Voriais
Sporadais, said to be off the coast of Metaponto in Basilicata on the
Ionian Sea. All are international tourist destinations with large
fishing industries.
Last week a robot was sent down into the
depths 11 kilometers off the coast of Cetraro. There, the robot shot
photos of the ship thought to be the Cunsky, confirming the story of
the ˜Ndrangheta "pentito and striking a chord of alarm throughout
Italy and the world. In the photos drums like those used to transport
and store radioactive and toxic wastes can be distinguished.
International
cooperation is needed in order to find and remove the sunken ships from
the seabed. This will have to be an enormous and unprecedented
undertaking needing close monitoring by international organizations,
the European Union and the United Nations. For now Japan has offered
its assistance as a large sector of their tuna fishing is done in the
Mediterranean between the coast of Spain and Sardinia. A very strong
concern here is that past and current government ties to the
International Ecomafia may hinder efforts to fully investigate the
scope of this calamity or to swiftly initiate attempts to contain the
damage already caused. According to the "pentito Fonti, he was in
contact with agents from the Italian secret service, SISMI, and
government officials in 1992 when he was involved in the sinking of
these ships.
Author and Italian parliament member Leoluca
Orlando, stopping short of blaming the government outright or any
specific government officials, said that people in the "political
system" aided the criminal network.
"Can
you imagine that it is possible to happen without persons inside the
system, inside the political system, inside the bureaucracy, inside the
state, not being connected with these criminals?" he said. "I am sure
that inside the official system there are friends, there are persons
who have protected this form of criminality."
Francesco Neri, an
official working with the Calabrian anti-mafia directorate, said that
it is unclear who wanted to dispose of these wastes, but that this
would be part of their investigation. The pentito Fonti stated that
wastes that he dealt with came from Norway, France, Germany and the
United States.
Ilaria Alpi was a Journalist who was following
the trail of arms and toxic garbage trafficking from Italy to Somalia.
She worked for Italian public television station Rai. In 1994 she and
her camera man Miran Hrovatin were gunned down and killed in Mogadishu
under mysterious circumstances. Many here believe, including the Mafia
pentito Fonti, that she was killed because she learned too much about
the collusion between the Mafia and Italian military.
I have
lived in Calabria for almost two years with my wife and beautiful 14
month baby Gaia Valmaree, who was named in honor of both our mother
Earth and my own mother. Upon our return from a visit to the toxic
cities of Toledo and Detroit, we were alarmed and shocked to learn that
the Tyrrhenian sea, which Gaia has been bathing in since her birth, has
been intentionally poisoned with radioactive and other highly toxic
wastes for over twenty years. How shocked and dismayed we were to
discover that government officials have known about it all along. And
how enraged we are that a journalist has been killed, possibly for
trying to reveal the truth about the disposal of waste by the
international Ecomafia and their colluding government and corporate
interests.
Michael Leonardicurrently lives in
Calabria. He teaches English at the University of Calabria in Cosenza
and at the Vocational Highschool in Maratea for training hotel and
restaurant workers. He can be reached at mikeleonardi@hotmail.com
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