Lead and antimony concentrations exceeded legal limits in two samples. Arsenic contamination was detected at one sampling point. This was in the shooting area. Two additional samples also contained excessive cadmium and lead, and 42 exceeded the tolerable amount of thallium in the grazing area. Some heavy metals were found in amounts up to three times the contamination thresholds.
This is according to analyses conducted within the Capo Teulada range, which led to the ban on animal access, with an order from the Prefecture of Cagliari issued in the third week of July. The ban was known, having been communicated to all relevant civil authorities: the Region, the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Arpas (ARPAS), and the Municipalities of Teulada and Sant'Anna Arresi. What was "caught up" in the certified emails were the collected data: numbers that demonstrate widespread pollution that, in some respects, might seem inexplicable.
The campaign
The environmental monitoring intervention is annual and commissioned by the Ministry of Defense. The companies White Lab-Lav Srl and Ela Srl worked on the field. The samples were taken between January 13th and 28th, six months before the order to evacuate the range was issued. Within the 72 square kilometers of the range, 2,260 sampling points for surface soil and 12 for water were identified.
One factor, among many considered, is significant: the calculation of contamination thresholds is not based on the parameters applied to green areas. The polygon, for monitoring purposes, is classified as industrial land. The tolerance thresholds for pollutants, therefore, are much higher. And if they are exceeded, it means pollution is present and significant.
The results
While 1,000 milligrams per kilogram are "accepted" for lead, analyses have reached as high as 1,200. Concentrations of arsenic and antimony are more moderate, though still "outside" the norm. "A comparison with the contamination threshold concentrations for areas designated for agri-food production," the final report states, citing ministerial tables, "shows 50 exceedances, primarily for thallium and lead, as well as more occasional ones for antimony and cadmium." The document continues, "a widespread presence of thallium (concentrations of up to 3.4 milligrams per kilogram) is detected at 42 sampling points." The limit is one milligram. How the heavy metals ended up in an area of the range where shooting is not conducted remains unexplained for now. The hypothesis is that earthworks were carried out from one point to another within the military area. But this has not yet been confirmed.
The reactions
Counter-analyses are scheduled for August 20th. Meanwhile, the damage has been done: for now, shepherds remain outside the designated areas of the shooting range, and news of the pollution broke during the summer. "This is damage to our reputation, from which we reserve the right to protect ourselves," said Teulada's mayor, Angelo Milia, in the city council. He also wrote as much in a document sent to the Region, requesting the establishment of an environmental observatory for the shooting range: a regulatory body required by law, but never activated because no one from Villa Devoto ever applied pressure on the issue. For decades. ( e.fr )
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