Radioactive alert on Malta gas pipeline: Sicily authorities proposes re-routing

A report prepared by the managers of the Biviere natural reserve in Sicily is calling for the re-routing of the Malta-Sicily gas pipeline as this would add up to the environmental degradation of past industrial activity. But if this proves impossible, the report calls for compensation in shape of environmental restoration of the area.

The 63-page report endorsed by the Sicilian regional government and sent to Italy’s Ministry for Ecological Transition refers to data from sampling stations near Gela showing concentrations of depleted radioactive compounds Uranium 238 and Torio 234 in the sea around Gela.

The concentration of the two radioactive elements, which naturally occur on land, in the waters opposite the coast suggests that the naturally occurring material has been dispersed in the sea from landfills, making the site one of the “most problematic” in Italy.

The report repeatedly refers to the ‘cumulation of impacts’ and the need to take into account other pressures on the Gela region which already hosts a pipeline linked to Libya. According to the report the route leading to Gela was chosen on the basis of “economic, practical criteria” but ignored the “cumulative overall impacts on Natura 2000 network sites and the conservation objectives of the management plans”.

Gela has also suffered the effects of decades of industrial developments which had a negative impact on the environment. While highly industrialised, Gela includes protected habitats which form part of the European Natura 2000 network habitats, and is considered to be 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 revision of the pipeline project, identifying a landing in Sicily in an area far from Gela. But in the event that the pipeline cannot be routed elsewhere, the report suggests that its impact should be balanced “with important environmental restoration actions”.

MEPs have voted down an objection filed 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 release EU funds for the so-called projects of common interest (PCI) for 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 will “destroy the natural sites protected by the EU in Gela.”