Ponte Stretto, from construction sites to the seismic area: requests from the Ministry of the Environment arrive

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On the day of the start of the services conference at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport for the investigation of the Bridge over the Strait – present the managing director of the Strait of Messina Piero Ciucci, the Rup Valerio Mele, the mayor of Villa San Giovanni Giusy Caminiti and the mayor of Messina Federico Basile – the Ministry of the Environment asks the concessionary company for the construction of the stable connection between Sicily and Calabria for a list of documentary additions, having evidently considered the observations presented a few days ago by the municipalities to be well founded .

The additions requested by Mase

In over 40 pages, the coordinator of the Subcommission for Environmental Impact Assessment Paola Brambilla formulates precise requests to update the project, for example to verify the compatibility of the interventions with environmental and landscape constraints and protections. The Mase document focuses on the cost and benefit analysis to request a more in-depth description of the social, economic, political and institutional context in which the project takes place. It also asks for a description of the construction site system, including the management of the earth and rocks from excavation, quantifying the surfaces and describing the current state of the places, their destination and their actual use, requesting a summary of the data in tables and clearly readable graphs. A further and detailed integration concerns the tsunami hazard conditions in the Strait of Messina area, to define detailed scenarios of potential flooding and the related assessments of the impact on land.

Insights into the marine environment

The ministry also focuses on air quality, the dispersion of pollutants and the marine environment, from Ganzirri to Cannitello, with the request for a detailed analysis of the effects of the construction of piers on the land in the construction site and studies on the evolution of the coastline. On the Sicily side, a greater characterization of the Ganzirri Pantani area is needed. In Calabria, however, it is necessary to delve deeper into the hydrogeological risk management project and produce more detailed maps. Particular attention is paid to noise pollution, underwater noise, vibrations and electromagnetic fields. We require additions to protect biodiversity, further evaluations of nourishment and coastal defense works. Details on protected marine species, verifying the interference of the works. Monitoring of the atmosphere, the marine environment, surface and underground waters.

Caminiti, Mase’s requests protect the territories

In total, 155 requests for integration for the Path, 66 for the Impact Assessment (Vinca), with reference to habitats and species, mitigation and compensation interventions. «Overall, the requests formulated by Mase protect the territories and the wonderful Strait of Messina – comments the mayor of Villa San Giovanni Giusy Caminiti with satisfaction – above all they go in the direction of preventing a redesign in the executive phase which I consider to be a very dangerous eventuality».

From the prosecutors to the Cipess, 45 people from Messina against the work

Meanwhile, the complaint from a group of people from Messina reaches Cipess, 45 including lawyers, magistrates, university professors, ordinary citizens (“not members of parties or movements, without labels and flags”, they specify), presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rome , of Messina and the Court of Auditors: they ask that the possible configurability of crimes against public faith and heritage be evaluated, both in the opinion recently expressed by the scientific committee of the Stretto di Messina company on the supplementary report of the old definitive project of the bridge , presented by “Webuild”, and in the subsequent approval resolution by the board of directors of the concessionary company”.