It would be “largely” better than the pre-existing situation, characterized by “annous and very relevant environmental critical issuesi”, while the complaints from environmentalist associations would be “unfounded because they are generic and the result of a general misunderstanding of the characteristics of the intervention”.
In this way, the Fifth Section of the Campania Regional Administrative Court rejects the appeal of Marevivo and Greenpeace against the Municipality of Naples, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and the Government’s Extraordinary Commissioner for Environmental Reclamation and Urban Regeneration of Bagnoli.
The question? The intervention in the sea of Coroglio involves the reconstruction of the final stretch of the collector called Arena Sant’Antonio, including that of the treatment plant upstream of the final discharge into the sea. A threat to the ecosystem, which would only bring environmental, health and economic damage, the environmental associations had tried to say. But nothing happened.
What happened
A few months ago, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture, gave the green light with Decree no. 421 of 11.29.2024 for the creation of the “Environmental Redevelopment and Urban Regeneration Plan” (PRARU) of Bagnoli-Coroglio.
Marevivo Foundation, Marevivo Campania Delegation and Greenpeace Italia presented an appeal to the Regional Administrative Court of Campania defining the decree as “illegitimate” And “suitable to seriously and irreversibly compromise the Gaiola-Nisida Special Area of European Conservation and the marine protected area of the Gaiola Submerged Park”, wrote the lawyers, representing the environmentalist groups.
The Gaiola-Nisida SAC is the area of greatest environmental and cultural value on the Neapolitan coastal strip, enclosing a Marine Protected Area of national importance, the Gaiola Submerged Park, 15 marine biocenoses, three Habitats of community importance, 1 of which is a priority, and over 20 protected species.
It is clear that there is a serious and absurd short circuit if an Environmental Reclamation and Remediation plan chooses the Gaiola-Nisida Special European Conservation Area as a sacrificial area for the discharge of new sewer drains, despite the regulations protecting the area – explained Maurizio Simeone, Director of the Gaiola Submerged Park AMP, who for months has been denouncing the potential environmental damage caused by the Invitalia Plan. – It is a devastating choice for the sea of Naples, but also a serious precedent for the entire system of Italian and European marine protected areas. This appeal to the TAR is first of all a huge act of love for our sea.
The TAR’s decision
During these months many have responded to the appeal of the associations: well-known faces, associations, professionals, to which have been added the 16 environmental associations gathered in the Sea Protection Coordination “Chi Tene o’ Mare”, of which Marevivo is the leader, the scientific and cultural world, which in unison contest the Invitalia Plan.
But the ruling of the Regional Administrative Court of Campania last 6 November rejected the appeal presented against the project “Infrastructure, water, transport and energy networks in the area of the Bagnoli Coroglio site of national interest” by Invitalia spa and effectively giving the green light to the works to upgrade the water and sewerage networks in the Posillipo-Bagnoli area, including the renovation of the “Arena Sant’Antonio” collector, which will discharge into proximity to the Gaiola Submerged Park Marine Protected Area, an area protected by national and European protection standards, such as the Natura 2000 Network.
It is a contradiction in terms that an Environmental Reclamation and Remediation Plan identifies the Gaiola Submerged Park Marine Protected Area as the discharge area for the new sewer drains, an area protected by national and European protection standards, such as the Natura 2000 Network – explains Rosalba Giugni, President of the Marevivo Foundation. This ruling deeply disappoints us, because it also creates a dangerous precedent for the system of Italian and European Marine Protected Areas.
While recognizing that the Campania TAR limited itself to evaluating the correctness of the administrative procedures, we believe that the environmental issue remains substantially unresolved. It is essential to investigate with seriousness and transparency the possible impacts of the work on marine biodiversity, which concerns both the Marine Protected Area “Submerged Park of Gaiola” and the Special Conservation Area IT8030041 “Seabeds of Gaiola and Nisida”, of the Natura 2000 Network, the largest ecological network in Europe, established by the European Union pursuant to Directive 92/43/EEC “Habitat”.
In short, bureaucracy wins, but the sea and those who defend it lose, conclude Marevivo and Greenpeace Italia
In an environment as delicate and valuable as this, the precautionary principle should represent the first rule of action. Yet, once again, we preferred to put the protection of the sea in the background, treating it as a marginal obstacle in the face of infrastructural interests.
It seems to us to be a short-sighted choice, which could permanently damage an unrepeatable ecosystem, everyone’s shared heritage. Don’t you believe?
