Radioactive warning on Malta gas pipeline: Sicilian authorities propose re-routing
A report prepared by the managers of the Biviere nature reserve in Sicily is calling for the gas pipeline between Malta and Sicily to be changed as this will increase the environmental degradation of past industrial activity. However, if this proves impossible, the report will seek compensation in the form of environmental restoration of the area.
The 63-page report approved by the Sicilian regional government and sent to the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition refers to data from sampling stations near Gela showing concentrations of weakened radioactive compounds Uranium 238 and Torio 234 in the sea around Gela.
The concentration of the two radioactive elements, which occur naturally on land, in coastal waters suggests that the naturally occurring material has been spilled into the sea from landfills, making it one of the “most problematic” sites in Italy.
The report repeatedly refers to the ‘cumulation of impacts’ and the need to consider further pressures on the Gela region which already hosts a Libya-linked pipeline. According to the report, the route to Gela was chosen on the basis of “economic and practical criteria” but ignored the overall cumulative impacts on Natura 2000 sites and the conservation objectives of the Gela. management plans ”.
Gela has also suffered the effects of decades of industrial developments that have had a negative impact on the environment. While highly industrialized, Gela includes protected habitats that are part of the habitats of the European Natura 2000 network, and is considered very important, especially for birds.
Fish samples also showed “appreciable concentrations” of methylmercury and arsenic while samples in crustaceans indicate the presence of cadmium and lead.
Biviere park managers are calling for a review of the pipeline project, which will identify a landing in Sicily in an area far from Gela. But in the event that the pipeline cannot be diverted, the report suggests that its impact should be offset “by important environmental restoration actions”.
MEPs voted against an objection presented by Green MEPs to a list of EU-funded gas projects that includes Malta’s pipeline connection to Sicily. A total of 497 MEPs did not support the objection to issuing EU funds for so-called projects of common interest (PCI) to gas projects.
Green MEP Ignazio Corrao, who signed the resolution calling on the EC to revise the list of projects of common interest, warned that the Italy-Malta pipeline would “destroy natural sites protected by EU in Gela. “