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«The motion approved by the Regional Council represents a sign of strong attention towards the issues of health and protection of citizens in a territory that has been living with the consequences of environmental pollution for decades». This is what Filippo Pietropaolo, president of the Budget, Economic Planning, European Union Affairs and Foreign Relations Commission of the Calabria Regional Council, states, commenting on the approval of the motion dedicated to the Crotone-Cassano-Cerchiara Site of National Interest.
According to Pietropaolo, the provision outlines a strategy that organically links environmental remediation, health prevention, epidemiological monitoring and territorial development planning, identifying health protection as the guiding principle for future choices regarding the Crotone area.
Free health surveillance and screening
The motion commits the regional government to establish an active and free health monitoring protocol for all residents of the SIN area, providing periodic checks with particular attention to children, pregnant women, the elderly and fragile subjects.
The measures envisaged also include specific screening for the search for heavy metals through tests on blood, urine and hair, aimed at verifying the possible presence in the body of substances such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, chromium, nickel, lead, zinc and copper. The objective is to collect reliable scientific data on the population’s level of exposure and plan any targeted health interventions.
«A way to transform prevention into a concrete right», underlines Pietropaolo, recalling the indications of the scientific community which for years has called for systematic monitoring of the populations residing in the areas affected by environmental contamination phenomena.
Land reclamation and development
In his speech, the president of the Budget Commission also recalls the constraint already provided for by the single regional authorization provision of 2019 and confirmed by Ministerial Decree no. 7 of 3 March 2020, according to which the hazardous waste deriving from the SIN reclamation operations must be transferred outside Calabria to authorized plants suitable for treatment and disposal.
The motion also provides for the strengthening of the regional tumor registry to improve the monitoring of oncological pathologies, identify any statistical anomalies and support scientific research activities on the relationship between environmental pollution and the onset of diseases.
Among the aspects highlighted by Pietropaolo there is also the introduction of the principle according to which every new industrial or infrastructure project must be subjected in advance to a rigorous health impact assessment and cannot be examined exclusively from an economic or employment perspective.
«For the first time, environmental remediation, health prevention, epidemiological monitoring and territorial development planning are organically linked. The message that emerges is clear: citizens’ health can no longer be considered a secondary variable compared to production or industrial needs”, concludes Pietropaolo, who also expressed solidarity with councilor Denise Barbuto, author of the motion and among the promoters of the initiative approved by the regional assembly.