Dr. Ciro Manzo presented on geoethical challenges in the communication and management of natural hazards in Campania, Italy, known as the "Land of Fires". He discussed the municipal solid waste and illegal dumping emergencies affecting the region for decades. Improper siting of landfills and lack of consideration for geological studies have exacerbated public health and environmental issues. Correct scientific information and emphasis on problem solving are needed to overcome misunderstandings created by sensationalized media coverage. Geologists must clearly communicate risk and play an active role in supporting responsible decisions around waste management and remediation.

1. European Geoscience Union
General Assembly 2014
Vienna | Austria | 27 April – 02 May 2014
Dr. Ciro Manzo
Insitute for Atmospheric Pollution Research – CNR Italy
Young Earth Scientists Network, Executive team
Session NH9.8
Geoethics: Ethical Challenges In Communication, Geoeducation And Management of
Natural Hazards

2.  From Campania Felix toThe Land of Fires
 What is the problem?
 The «Land of Fires»
 Geoethic in the «Land of Fires»
 What does it mean?
 The cost of incorrected news
 The importance of geologists
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it

3. Naples
Rome
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Quaternary
Quaternary and active
terrigenous sediments
Neapolitan-Phlegrean
Procida and Ischia volcanics
Somma-Vesuvio volcanics
Roccamonfina volcanics
Pliocene and Miocene
Terrigenous sediments
Mesozoic carbonatic units
Fault
Overthurst
Mt. Vesuvio
Orsi et al., 1996

4.  The presence of volcanic deposits makes very
fertileCampania plain, allowing the
production of typical food…
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it

5. Complex stratigraphy…
0-20 m
40-60 m
100-150 m
From ENEA-PROT-IDR, 2002
< Unconfined
< Aquitard
< Confined
Upward Leakance
phenomena

6. Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it29/04/2014
Well pumping
water table aquifer
2 Overlaying acquifers are exploited
Well pumping
deeper aquifer
Modified from Ducci 2013
In some area the high
number of wells,
deepening of old wells,
make possibile direct
contact between two
layers
< Unconfined
High vulnerability
< Aquitard
< Confined
Low vulnerability

7. Several land cover
changes in last 50
years
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Brigther colour changes
(modified from ARPAC data)
Naples
Caserta
Forest
 Agriculture
 Mining
 Urban extension
 Industry
 Water pumping

8. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Several land cover
changes in last 50
years
Brigther colour changes
(modified from ARPAC data)
Naples
Caserta
Forest
Urbanization
 Agriculture
 Mining
 Urban extension
 Industry
 Water pumping

9. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Forest
Urbanization
Agriculture
Several land cover
changes in last 50
years
Brigther colour changes
(modified from ARPAC data)
Naples
Caserta
 Agriculture
 Mining
 Urban extension
 Industry
 Water pumping

10. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Strong impact of
human activities.
Potenzial hazardous
sites:
 Landfills
 Industrial sites
 Accidental
leakage
 Uncontrolled
abandon of
wastes
(Novelli, modified from ARPAC data)
Naples
Caserta
Potential hazardous site
Cultivated/Total
Agriculture Area
0
100
%

11. Illegal waste fires
 1/1/2012 to 31/08/2013 more than 6034 illegal
fires (Legambiente 2013)
Illegal leather
industries
1 kg of good -> 0.5 kg of waste
Wheel and wires
To extract copper
29/04/2014
Urban wastes

12.  Two intertwined emergencies…
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
MSW Management Eco-mafia illegal activity
(Fanpage)(Equoblog)

13. Municipal Solid Waste Emergency
 1994 Official Emergency Kick off.
 2001-2008. Landfills nearly full, impossible burning
Refuse-derived fuel because none of theWaste to
Energy plants was ready (Rel. Parl. 2006 e 2007)
 When Judges closed a landfills which didn’t respect laws…
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Recurring breakdown of Waste Management System

14. Crisis…
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Media interest and
environmental and
economic impact…

15.  From 2008-2010, Normalization.
 Emergency Commissary was able to ignore any
law he judged necessary to solve the problem…
 Waste treatment facilities are defined as “areas
of strategic national interest” and militarised.
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it (Il Mattino)

16. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Decree 90/2008
8 landfill sites
7 RFD plants
4 incineritors

17.  Why NIMBY reaction!
 Sites
▪ Often suffering of environmental issues
▪ Old pits and/or located in particular area such as National Park
▪ Nearness to cities (odours impact)
 Environmental Laws wavering and Militarization of sites
▪ No control by local associations and their technicians (more confusion
about real data!)
▪ People often don’t trust Government action is effective after 25 years of
emergency
 The constant risk of Camorra in these activity… (last month 17
arrested aboutChiaiano landfill inquiry – Il Mattino 5/3/2014)
 Media and their confused information
 The list of alternative sites proposed by geologists wasn’t
considered (De Medici, 2007)
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it

18.  When emergency control the decisions…
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Terzigno
DeVivo et al., 2005
Chiaiano

19.  2 Closed Pits of 700k m3:
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Terzigno
Chiaiano
(Sapna)
(Fanpage)

20.  2 Closed Pits of 700k m3:
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Terzigno
Chiaiano
Celico et al., 2003
Celico et al 1998

21. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Hospital area
2 km
Chiaiano Landfill

22. Rain
Rock
instability
Filtration
Along
fractures
Weathered
Tuff
Tectonic
fracture
Strata
limits
Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Hydrogeological risk area
Rock fall and landslide
Potential risk for groundwater
29/04/2014
Courtesy of Prof. Ortolani 2008
White tuff formation
Piroclastic deposit Backfill
Drill
Piperno and Breccia Museo
Torre Franco’s Tuff
Rock
fall

23. Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it29/04/2014
<2km

24. Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it29/04/2014
Vesuvio National
Park
Modified from Ortolani 2008

25.  How many landfills in this area?
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
New potential site… of 3.5Mtons
Old LandfillLandfill closed
In 2012
Terzigno

26. Total legal
inquiry
Warrants of
arrest
Denouced
people
Company
involved
DA’s office Tons of
Waste
illegally
dumped
82 915 1806 443 37 9.789.511
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Main lnquires about Illegal waste trade in Campania from 1991 – 2013
(Source: Legambiente 2013)
?
Ecomafia illegal dumping

27. The frightful forecast of 2060
about Resit area
• from ’80s until 2004 illegal
dumping 800KTons of Industrial
and Municipal solid Wastes
• No HDPE protection, no Biogas
extractoin
• Leachate infiltration, biogas
migration
• The peak of groundwater
contamination in 2060
• Expensive remediation
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
221 hectares

28. The frightful forecast of 2060
about Resit area
• from ’80s until 2004 illegal
dumping
• Leachate infiltration, biogas
migration (derived by 80000
Tons of Industrial and Municipal
solid Wastes)
• The peak of groundwater
contamination in 2060
• Expensive remediation
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
221 hectares
Modified from Balestri, 2007
How people thinks….

29. The frightful forecast of 2060
about Resit area
• from ’80s until 2004 illegal
dumping
• Leachate infiltration, biogas
migration (derived by 80000
Tons of Industrial and Municipal
solid Wastes)
• The peak of groundwater
contamination in 2060
• Expensive remediation
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
221 hectares
1825m
750m
100 year plumen
Modified from Balestri, 2007
How geologist….

30. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Production Area
Land of fire
Production Area in
The land of Fire
The tomato of San Marzano DOPResit

31. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Production Area
Land of fire
Production Area in
The land of Fire
Mozzarella di bufala
Campana DOP
Resit

32. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Production Area
Land of fire
Production Area in
The land of Fire
The Lemon of Sorrento
http://www.limonedisorrentoigp.it
Resit

33. The big misunderstanding
 Media “oversimplification”
 Title such as ECODISASTER, BIOCIDE…
 Confusion Landfills, rural sites and fires…
 The research of sensationalism at every cost (see Schiavone’s
interview!), analysis of tomato cultivation beside contaminated landfill
in aTV programme….
 Authorities underestimation of the phenomena
 Absence of a register of cancer (till last month!)
 Not enough control of territory
 Fear of population due to increase of cancer phenomena in the area
(The triangle of death…)
 This misunderstanding lead to 2 opposite potential Effects:
 It is useless remediate because “land is dead”, so lets continue to dump
 Remediate all -> economic business
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
There would be several Million of euro to
remediate…

34.  What does it mean geoethic in the «Land of
fires»?
 Correct information about polluted and unpolluted
zone/field/groundwater
 Fostering the true Scientific information, avoiding
sensationalism press of newspaper!
 To denounce illegality and disrespect of professional
code of conduct!
▪ We are the first legal guard in the business of the remediation
 Importance of geologists’ social role in
supporting administration decisions!
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it

35.  Essential support of Geological communities:
 promoting geoeducation activity (We live in a
probabilistic World…)
 Focusing on the priority of environmental
problem solving
 «Building bridges» between other professions
(engineer, chemistry, physicist etc.) in order to
increase team working (such as Assise di Napoli
association)
 Denouncing incorrect information
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it

36. Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it29/04/2014
SCW%
Number of inhabitants
% per Municipality
200020012002200420052006200720082009
From 10 to 42.12 % of Recycling in few years…

37. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
Thank you for your attention
Any questions?

38. - Bianchi, F., Biggeri, A., Cadum, E., Comba, P., Forastiere, F., Martuzzi, M., &Terracini, B. (2006).
Epidemiologia ambientale e aree inquinate in Italia. Epidemiol Prev, 30(3), 146-152.
- Ducci, D. (2013). Le acque sotterranee nella “terra dei fuochi”. ambiente rischio comunicazione, 39.
- Ferrara, L., Iannace, M., Patelli, A. M., & Arienzo, M. (2013). Geochemical survey of an illegal waste
disposal site under a waste emergency scenario (Northwest Naples, Italy). Environmental monitoring and
assessment, 185(3), 2671-2682.
- Senior, K., andA. Mazza. 2004. “Italian 'Triangle of Death' Linked toWaste Crisis.”
The Lancet Oncology 5: 525–527. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(04)01561-X.
- B. DeVivo, Harvey Belkin,Annamaria Lima, EnvironmentalGeochemistry: Site Characterization, Data
Analysis and Case Histories: Site Characterization, Data Analysis andCase Histories, Chap.16
- Capone, N. (2013).The Assemblies of the City of Naples: A Long Battle to Defend the Landscape and
Environment.Capitalism Nature Socialism, 24(4), 46-54.
- L’ambiente Geologico della Campania
- Le rotte della terra dei fuochi – Legambiente
- Rifiuti s.p.a.
- Rapporto ambientale del Piano di Gestione Regionale dei Rifiuti (PRGR)
- -Italian Decree 90/2009
- -Italian Decree 152/2006
- -Italian Decree 36/2003
- - Spatial Data of land cover extracted from PianificazioneTerritoriale Regionale of Campania local
administration (http://sit.regione.campania.it/)
- http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg16/lavori/documentiparlamentari/indiceetesti/023/019/00000008.pdf
- http://www.napoliassise.it/siticonspiegazione.pdf
29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it
For further studies:

39. 29/04/2014 Dr. Ciro Manzo – IIACNR – c.manzo@iia.cnr.it