International Eco-Mafia and an Ecological Catastrophe
By MICHAEL LEONARDI
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.
Reports of up to 41 boats have now surfaced in the international media. It is hoped that many of the barrels are still intact, but no one knows for sure and it is still unclear what they contain. Traces of Mercury and Cesnium 137 have recently been found near the town of Amantea in Calabria further south of Cetraro by about 50 kilometers. Cesnium 137 is a radioactive byproduct of fission reactions that is highly soluble in water and highly toxic, with a half-life of 30 years. This contamination is believed to have come from another ship called the Jolly Rosso that beached along the Calabrian shore in 1990. The cargo of the Jolly Rosso was illegally dumped near Amantea on a hill along the Oliva River. cont'd:International Eco-Mafia and an Ecological Catastrophe
By MICHAEL LEONARDI
Now... more
US soldiers are returning from Iraq to die of "mysterious" ailments.
During the current Iraq War the U.S. use of radioactive DU weapons increased from 375 tons used in 1991 to 2200 tons. Geiger counter readings at sites in downtown Baghdad record radiation levels 1,000 and 2,000 times higher than background radiation. The Pentagon has bombed, occupied, tortured and contaminated Iraq. Millions of Iraqis are affected. Over one million U.S. soldiers have rotated into Iraq. Today, half of the 697,000 U.S. Gulf War troops from the 1991 war have reported serious medical problems and a significant increase in birth defects among their newborn children.
The effects on the Iraqi population are far greater. Many other countries and U.S. communities near DU weapons plants, testing facilities, bases and arsenals have also been exposed to this radioactive material which has a half-life of 4.4 billions yearsUS soldiers are returning from Iraq to die of "mysterious" ailments.
During the... more
Public Citizen and a coalition of environmental organizations have filed a legal challenge to the proposed Calvert Cliffs-3 atomic reactor. The proposed nuclear project runs afoul of numerous laws and regulations, and remains a bad deal for the people of Maryland and its neighbors.Public Citizen and a coalition of environmental organizations have filed a legal... more
MADRID (Reuters) - Greenpeace blocked the entrance on Thursday to a Spanish nuclear power station facing closure next year and urged the government to shut it down immediately in line with election pledges to phase out nuclear power.
Greenpeace said Spain's booming renewable energy sector could easily replace the 500 megawatts of power produced by Garona.MADRID (Reuters) - Greenpeace blocked the entrance on Thursday to a Spanish nuclear... more
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"il polonio 210", noto come causa di tumori ai polmoni, è da tempo presente nei fertilizzanti al fosfato.
Da 40 anni le multinazionali del tabacco hanno tentato di risolvere il problema, ma si sono guardate bene dall’informare il consumatore, o cambiare i fertilizzanti.
Leggi l’articolo Linkato. "il polonio 210", noto come causa di tumori ai polmoni, è da tempo presente nei... more
"Over the past few decades a series of studies has called stereotypes [about coal and nuclear energy] into question. Among the surprising conclusions: the waste produced by coal plants is actually more radioactive than that generated by their nuclear counterparts. In fact, fly ash—a by-product from burning coal for power—contains up to 100 times more radiation than nuclear waste...
...Developing countries like India and China continue to unveil new coal-fired plants—at the rate of one every seven to 10 days in the latter nation. And the U.S. still draws around half of its electricity from coal. But coal plants have an additional strike against them: they emit harmful greenhouse gases...
With the world now focused on addressing climate change, nuclear power is gaining favor in some circles. China aims to quadruple nuclear capacity to 40,000 megawatts by 2020, and the U.S. may build as many as 30 new reactors in the next several decades. But, although the risk of a nuclear core meltdown is very low, the impact of such an event creates a stigma around the noncarbon power source.
The question boils down to the accumulating impacts of daily incremental pollution from burning coal or the small risk but catastrophic consequences of even one nuclear meltdown. "I suspect we'll hear more about this rivalry," Finkelman says. "More coal will be mined in the future. And those ignorant of the issues, or those who have a vested interest in other forms of energy, may be tempted to raise these issues again."
ARE WE F*CKED OR WHAT?!?
Who's side are you on in the Coal VS Nuclear Rivalry? Shall I print up TEAM COAL and TEAM NUCLEAR shirts?
"Over the past few decades a series of studies has called stereotypes [about coal... more
The renewed push for legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions could falter over an old debate: whether nuclear power should play a role in any federal attack on climate change.Congress, with added impetus from a Supreme Court ruling last week, appears more likely to pass comprehensive energy legislation. But nuclear power sharply divides lawmakers who agree on mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions. And it has pitted some on Capitol Hill against their usual allies, environmentalists, who largely oppose any expansion of nuclear power.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Barbara Boxer - Bay Area Democrats with similar political views - are on opposite sides.
Pelosi used to be an ardent foe of nuclear power but now holds a different view. “I think it has to be on the table,” she said.
Boxer, head of the Senate committee that will take the lead in writing global warming legislation, said that turning from fossil fuels to nuclear power was “trading one problem for another.”
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) - all presidential candidates - support legislation that would cap greenhouse gas emissions and provide incentives to power companies to build more nuclear plants.
Opponents of nuclear power say that because a terrorist attack on a plant could be catastrophic, it makes no sense to build more potential targets. And radioactive waste still has no permanent burial site, they say, despite officials’ three decades of trying to find one.
But attitudes toward nuclear power may be shifting as a consensus emerges that greenhouse gases are causing the world to heat up.
The Supreme Court added its voice, criticizing the Bush administration for not acting to control greenhouse gases.
Max Schulz, a former Energy Department staff member who is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, said the ruling could help “spur the revival of nuclear power.” The renewed push for legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions could falter over an... more
KIEV, Ukraine - Twenty-two years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, work is under way on a colossal new shelter to cover the ruins and deadly radioactive contents of the exploded Soviet-era power plant.
For years, the original iron and concrete shelter that was hastily constructed over the reactor has been leaking radiation, cracking and threatening to collapse. The new one, an arch of steel, would be big enough to contain the Statue of Liberty.
Once completed, Chernobyl will be safe, said Vince Novak, nuclear safety director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development which manages the $505 million project.
The new shelter is part of a broader $1.4 billion effort financed by international donors that began in 1997 and includes shoring up the current shelter, monitoring radiation and training experts.
The explosion at reactor No. 4 on April 26, 1986 was the world's worst nuclear accident, spewing radiation over a large swath of the former Soviet Union and much of northern Europe. It directly contaminated an area roughly half the size of Italy, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
In the two months after the disaster, 31 people died of radioactivity, but the final toll is still debated. The U.N. health agency estimates that about 9,300 will eventually die from cancers caused by Chernobyl's radiation. Groups such as Greenpeace insist the toll could be 10 times higher.
The old shelter, called a "sarcophagus," was built in just six months. But intense radiation has weakened it, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and rain and snow are seeping through cracks.
Officials say a tornado or earthquake could bring down the shelter, releasing clouds of poisonous dust.
The first step, shoring up the sarcophagus, is almost complete, Ukrainian and EBRD officials say.
Later, the 20,000-ton arch — 345 feet tall, 840 feet wide and 490 feet long — will be built next to the old shelter and slid over it on railtracks.
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But remember, nuclear power is safe according to our Congress. It can't happen here. What a tragedy this is. KIEV, Ukraine - Twenty-two years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, work is under... more
Uranium Hearings on whether to allow uranium mining in and near Grand Canyon and elsewhere in Arizona.
Hear Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., and other Indian leaders decry the desecration of the water and land.
This message from your friends at TouchArt.net and One Earth Blog.Uranium Hearings on whether to allow uranium mining in and near Grand Canyon and... more
As Nuclear Waste Languishes, Expense to U.S. Rises
WASHINGTON — Forgotten but not gone, the waste from more than 100 nuclear reactors that the federal government was supposed to start accepting for burial 10 years ago is still at the reactor sites, at least 20 years behind schedule. But it is making itself felt in the federal budget.
Each reactor typically creates about 20 tons of waste a year, which is approximately two new casks, at roughly $1 million each. If a repository or interim site opened, clearing the backlog would take decades, experts say. At present, waste is in temporary storage at 122 sites in 39 states.
WASHINGTON -- Pared-down energy legislation cleared the Senate on Thursday by a wide margin after the oil industry and utilities succeeded in stripping out provisions that would have cost them billions of dollars.
The tax measure and the renewable electricity mandate were included in an energy bill that easily passed the House last week. But industry lobbyists focused their attention on Republican members of the Senate and on the White House, which repeatedly threatened to veto the bill if the offending sections were not removed.
Separately, Congress reached a tentative agreement on a major energy package that it plans to enact outside the energy bill, according to a Senate Democratic staff member. The agreement, to be included in a broad government spending bill, would authorize the Energy Department to guarantee loans for various energy projects, making financing far easier.
The agreement would guarantee loans of up to $25 billion for new nuclear plants and $2 billion for a uranium enrichment plant, something those industries had been avidly seeking. It would also provide guarantees of up to $10 billion for renewable energy projects, $10 billion for plants to turn coal into liquid vehicle fuel and $2 billion to turn coal into natural gas.
In other news, as hand basket sales sky rocket, scientists are feverishly working on a family sized hand basket that would allow as many as 20 people to make the journey to hell together. O.k., I made that up, but if you can't afford a bomb shelter and you don't know Tom Cruise, you may want to buy a hand basket before you spend all your money on Christmas presents. WASHINGTON -- Pared-down energy legislation cleared the Senate on Thursday by a wide... more
When Chernobyl's Number Four reactor blew up in April 1986, spewing radioactive fallout across Belarus, workers quickly slapped a giant concrete sarcophagus over the site to contain the hazard. It was supposed to be a temporary fix.
Is Wired magazine totally pro nuke, or what?
"Sounds like a blast." Peter Savodnik
WTF? When Chernobyl's Number Four reactor blew up in April 1986, spewing radioactive... more
November 15, 2007: Despite all the bluster and all the rhetoric over nuclear power, the South Australian Rann Government is not willing to legislate to ban it...November 15, 2007: Despite all the bluster and all the rhetoric over nuclear power,... more
The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction.The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the... more
