Maffia Poison Ships Refound

PR Log (Press Release) – Oct 02, 2009 – The Italian government is facing claims that the Calabrian mafia intentionally sunk a ship holding toxic waste, just 20 miles off the south west coast of Italy, in order to bypass environmental laws.
From the Calabria-based 'ndrangheta crime syndicate, Francesco Fonti, has claimed the mob muscled in on the lucrative business of radioactive waste disposal and illegally sank "hundreds" of barrels of toxic waste.
Shadowy photos from a robot submarine sent to the area to verify the report, show the vessel intact and alongside it are a number of yellow barrels, with labels stating the contents are hazardous. TV images showed at least one barrel had fallen from the damaged hull and lay empty on the seabed. “This is an issue for the whole international community," said Silvestro Greco, head of Calabria's environment agency.
Fonti says the mafia made millions of dollars by illegally dumping radioactive and other toxic wastes for northern Italian businesses. He claims the ship was carrying 120 barrels of radioactive waste and that explosives were used to sink it off the Calabrian coast in 1992. He also claims he was involved in the purported sinking of three vessels.
Fonti is currently under state protection.
Should the cargo prove to be toxic waste, the hunt will be on for another 31 ‘poison’ ships, believed sunk by the mafia during the 1980s and 1990s. Greenpeace and the Italian environmental group Lega Ambiente, have been compiling lists of ships that have been lost off Italy and Greece. Alessandro Gianni, a Greenpeace official, said that as early as the '90s, his organization tried to learn the fate of ships that could have been involved in toxic dumping.
The deadly problem of toxic waste has long been a serious concern for modern civilization. However, both the production and disposal of toxic waste has become big business and vested interests do not believe is should be changed in any way. Even household waste can contain large amounts of toxic chemicals.
It is believed that many third world countries accept large volumes of hazardous waste for disposal, in return for sizable financial compensation. It is also thought that toxic waste has been dumped illegally on international shores, where environmental regulation and controls are not as stringent.
One ton of hazardous waste is created per person per annum, or approximately 260 million tons, in America alone. For most of the time, the disposal companies illegally dump the waste and get away with it.

The United Kingdom produces around two million tonnes of the most toxic type of waste every year. About half of this was simply dumped into landfill sites, in 93/94.

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