The triangle of death (Italian : Triangolo della morte) is an area approximately 25 km northeast of the city of Naples in the Province of Naples, Campania, Italy, that comprises the comuni of Acerra, Nola and Marigliano. This area contains the largest illegal waste dump in Europe due to a waste management crisis in the 1990s and 2000s. [1] [2]
The region has experienced a rise in cancer-related mortality that is linked to exposure of pollution from the illegal waste disposal by the Camorra criminal organization after regional landfills had been filled to capacity. [3]
The phenomenon of widespread environmental crime perpetrated by criminal syndicates like the Camorra and 'Ndrangheta has given rise to the term "ecomafia". [4]
The term "triangle of death" was first used with regard to the region in a September 2004 scientific publication in the Lancet Oncology . [5] [6] [7]
An estimated 550,000 people live in the triangle of death. The annual death rate per 100,000 inhabitants from liver cancer is approximately 38.4 for men and 20.8 for women in this area, as compared to the national average of 14. The death rate for bladder cancer and cancer of the central nervous system was also higher than the national average. [5] The high death rates from cancers pointed towards the presence of illegal and improper hazardous waste disposal by various organized crime groups including the Camorra. [8] The 2004 Lancet Oncology article noted, "Today, the difference between lawful management of waste and illegal manipulation with regard to their compliance with health regulations is very narrow, and the health risks are rising... The 5000 illegal or uncontrolled landfill sites in Italy drew particular criticism; Italy has already been warned twice for flouting the Hazardous Waste Directive and the Landfill Directive, and the EU has now referred Italy to the European Court of Justice for further action." [5]
The report was met with criticism by the National Research Council, dismissing the methods used by Senior and Mazza as biased. [9] Despite this, it sparked the first interest and concern into this matter, and has become the most cited source of evidence throughout the crisis. [9]
Though some media outlets report France [2] and Germany [10] as waste sources, the EU has remained silent as to the sources of the waste in its criticism and demands of Italy.
By February 1994, several regional landfills in Campania had become overfilled, and Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi declared a state of emergency and created the Committee for the Waste Emergency in Campania (Commissariato di Governo per l'emergenza rifiuti in Campania). [11]
By December 1999, all regional landfills had reached capacity. [11] Reports in 2008 stated that the crisis was caused at least in part by the Camorra, the powerful Campania-based mafia, which created a lucrative business in the municipal waste disposal sector, mostly in the triangle of death. With the complicity of industrial companies, the illegal dumpers frequently mix heavy metals, industrial waste, and chemicals and household waste together, and then dump them near roads and burn them to avoid detection, leading to severe soil and air pollution. [12] [13]
According to Giacomo D'Alisa et al., "the situation worsened during this period as the Camorra diversified their illegal waste disposal strategy: 1) transporting and dumping hazardous waste in the countryside by truck; 2) dumping waste in illegal caves or holes; 3) mixing toxic waste with textiles to avoid explosions and then burning it; and 4) mixing toxic with urban waste for disposal in landfills and incinerators." [11]
A Camorra member, Nunzio Perella was arrested in 1992, and began collaborating with authorities; he had stated "the rubbish is gold." [11] The boss of the Casalesi clan, Gaetano Vassallo, admitted to systematically working for 20 years to bribe local politicians and officials to gain their acquiescence to dumping toxic waste. [14] [15] Giorgio Napolitano, then President of Italian Republic, said in June 2008: [16] [17]
It is certain, not only to citizens but to the government as well, that the systematic transfer of toxic waste from industries in Northern Italy to Campania, was committed by the Camorra.
— Giorgio Napolitano, 4 June 2008.
The triangle of death and the waste management crisis are primarily a result of government failure to control illegal waste dumping. The government had attempted to mandate recycling and waste management programs, but were unable to, causing the expansion of opportunities for illegal activities, which caused further barriers to solve the waste crisis. [11] [5] [18] [19]
Pollutants such as dioxins are found in the area, particularly around Acerra, [20] as well as illegal waste disposal, [21] even in the business district of Montefibre. [22] As early as 1987, a decree of the Ministry of Environment marked Acerra "at high risk of environmental crisis". [23]
High levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detected both in the soil and in the inhabitants of the region. [24] It is hypothesized that industrial slurry originating from Porto Marghera (industrial docklands near Venice) was disguised as compost and spread on fields in the Acerra countryside by the Casalesi clan, often with help from the landowners. [25] [26]
In one case, a company had its assets seized during a 2006 investigation [27] in which it was alleged that the company had illegally disposed of waste from industries in the regions of Veneto and Tuscany in the territories of Bacoli, Giugliano and Qualiano. Approximately one million tonnes of toxic waste are said to have been disposed of, earning €27 million. The company was already the subject of a 2003 investigation. [28] In another case, a tank full of toxic substances was found buried in an illegal dump, in Marigliano. [29] [30]
The illegal burning of waste, for example to recover copper from wiring, [31] [32] is known to release dioxins into the atmosphere. Such fires are easily hidden among legitimate incineration resulting from the more general waste disposal problem, and the illegal burning of hazardous materials was particularly noted during 2007 and 2008. The presence of fires in the north area of Naples led author Roberto Saviano to use Terra dei fuochi ("Land of pyres") as a chapter title in his book Gomorrah . [33]
In 2000, a Parliamentary Commission inquiry about waste [34] discovered some 800,000 tonnes of mud in Pianura landfill, coming from ACNA of Cengio [35] [36] in Naples, and the Italian Procura della Repubblica found (through telephone wiretappings) some irregularities in the waste disposal into the landfill of Villaricca, managed by FIBA (a company of the Impregilo group). [37]
Between 2007 and 2008, the waste commissioner Guido Bertolaso, (the head of the civil protection department), planned to open a landfill but this was opposed by residents of Chiaiano. [38] There was similar resistance in Pianosa to reopening a closed landfill proposed by government commissioner Giovanni De Gennaro. Some of the protests turned violent, [39] and in May 2008, it became a penal felony to protest in the vicinity of landfills, incinerators or any plant related to waste management. [11] It is alleged that there was collusion between local political interests and organised crime over building interests. [40] [41]
By July 17, 2008, Berlusconi declared that the emergency had ended. [42] [43] [11]
The incinerator of Acerra has also received backlash in the local area. [44] In 2009, the Acerra incineration facility was completed at a cost of over €350 million. The incinerator burns 600,000 tons of waste per year to produce refuse-derived fuel. The energy produced from the facility is enough to power 200,000 households per year. [45]
In 2007, research [46] conducted by the World Health Organization, Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche and Campania Region collected data on cancer and congenital abnormalities in 196 municipalities covering the period between 1994 and 2002 found abnormally high disease incidence. These abnormal patterns may correlate to areas where there are uncontrolled waste sites. However, this work also highlighted the difficulty in determining causality and in establishing a link between increased death and malformation rates and waste disposal.
After the Senior and Mazza study, several other studies have been conducted to attempt to definitively link elevated cancer rates to waste exposure. [9] A government-made waste-exposure index that classifies areas of the Campania region as high (5 on index) or low (1 on index) risk based on the type of wastes present in surrounding dumping sites, total waste volume greater than 10,000 cubic metres, and the likelihood of releases on water, soil and air was created. Statistically significant excess relative risks were found for several cancer types in the triangle of death, however, methods often struggle to account for lifestyle confounders such as tobacco consumption and occupation which could skew the results. [47]
A US Navy study denied any real ill effects to on-base personnel while however advising their off-base personnel to drink bottled water citing polluted wells. The US Navy report denied any signs of nuclear waste dumping and instead related the traces of uranium to volcanic activity. [48] [49]
More than half of the regional land in Campania is used for agriculture, and therefore the economy of the region is adversely affected by the waste crisis. [11] Between January and March 2007, 30,000 kilograms of waste were burned on agricultural land, with a revenue of more than €118,000. [31] In the region, over 12,000 cattle, river buffaloes and sheep had been culled before 2006. [50] High levels of mortality and abnormal foetuses were also recorded in farms in Acerra linked to elevated levels of dioxin. [50] Local studies have shown higher than permissible levels of lead in vegetables grown in the area. [51] The government blames the Mafia's illegal garbage disposal racket. [51]
In March 2008, [52] dioxin were found in buffalo milk from farms in Caserta. [53] While only 2.8% of farms in Campania were affected, [54] the sale of dairy products from Campania collapsed in both domestic and global markets. [55] [56] [57]
A chain reaction followed, in which several countries including Japan, China, Russia and Germany took various measures ranging from the mere raising of the attention threshold to the suspension of imports. [58] The Italian institutions activated almost immediately, even in response to pressing requests from the European Union, a series of checks and suspended, in some cases, the sale of dairy products from the incriminated provinces. Tests had shown levels of dioxins higher than normal in at least 14% of samples taken in the provinces of Naples, Caserta and Avellino. In the provinces of Salerno and Benevento, no control indicated dioxins positivity. In any case, the contamination has affected, in a limited defined manner, the farms used to produce the PDO buffalo mozzarella DOP. [59] On 19 April, China definitively removed the ban on mozzarella, originally activated on 28 March 2008, and tests held in December 2013 in Germany on behalf of four Italian consumer associations have highlighted dioxin and heavy metal levels at least five times lower than the legal limit. [60]
Campania is an administrative region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the island of Capri. The capital of the Campania region is Naples. As of 2018, the region had a population of around 5,820,000 people, making it Italy's third most populous region, and, with an area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi), its most densely populated region. Based on its GDP, Campania is also the most economically productive region in Southern Italy and the 7th most productive in the whole country. Naples' urban area, which is in Campania, is the eighth most populous in the European Union. The region is home to 10 of the 58 UNESCO sites in Italy, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast, the Longobardian Church of Santa Sofia in Benevento and the Historic Centre of Naples. In addition, Campania's Mount Vesuvius is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
The Camorra is an Italian Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking, racketeering, counterfeiting, and money laundering. It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas.
Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm. Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemicals that can pollute the air and contaminate soil and water. Disposing of such waste is a major public health issue.
Illegal dumping, also called fly dumping or fly tipping (UK), is the dumping of waste illegally instead of using an authorised method such as curbside collection or using an authorised rubbish dump. It is the illegal deposit of any waste onto land, including waste dumped or tipped on a site with no licence to accept waste.
Acerra is a town and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, about 15 kilometres northeast of the capital in Naples. It is part of the Agro Acerrano plain.
Buffalo mozzarella is a mozzarella made from the milk of the Italian Mediterranean buffalo. It is a dairy product traditionally manufactured in Campania, especially in the provinces of Caserta and Salerno.
Marigliano is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy.
Castel Volturno is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) northwest of Naples and about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Caserta on the Volturno river. The town has a population of almost 30,000 residents, along with an estimated more than 15,000 undocumented immigrants.
Antonio Iovine is a powerful Italian Camorrista and one of the bosses of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Lazio. His nickname is 'o ninno, because of his baby face when he was made a capo at a very young age.
Francesco Bidognetti is a powerful Italian Camorrista. He is the chief lieutenant of Francesco Schiavone, boss of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta, and head of the Bidognetti clan, one of the five clans which make up the Casalesi. He is known as "'Cicciott' 'e Mezzanotte'".
The Scissionisti di Secondigliano or Amato-Pagano clan is a Camorra clan from the Secondigliano district of Naples, headed by Raffaele Amato and Cesare Pagano. They are also known as "Spagnoli" (Spaniards) because of their strong presence in Spain, particularly in Costa del Sol and Barcelona.
The "Naples waste management crisis" is a series of events surrounding the lack of waste collection and illegal toxic waste dumping in and around the Province of Naples, Campania, Italy, beginning in the 1980s. In 1994, Campania formally declared a state of emergency, ending in 2008, however, the crisis has had negative effects on the environment and on human health, specifically in an area that became known as the triangle of death. Due to the burning of accumulated toxic wastes in overfilled landfills and the streets, Naples's surrounding areas became known as the "Land of pyres". The crisis is largely attributed to government failure to efficiently waste manage, as well as the illegal waste disposal by the Camorra criminal organization.
The Russo clan is a Neapolitan Camorra clan operating in the town of Nola and its surrounding territories. Police say the Russo clan had total control over illegal activity in about 40 towns in the Naples region.
The 'Ndrangheta, a criminal organization from Calabria, Italy, has been involved in radioactive waste dumping since the 1980s. Ships with toxic and radioactive waste were sunk off the Italian coast. In addition, vessels were allegedly sent to Somalia and other developing countries with toxic waste, including radioactive waste cargoes, which were either sunk with the ship or buried on land. The introduction of more rigorous environmental legislation in the 1980s made illegal waste dumping a lucrative business for organized crime groups in Italy. The phenomenon of widespread environmental crime perpetrated by criminal syndicates like the Camorra and 'Ndrangheta has given rise to the term "ecomafia".
Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship.
Biùtiful cauntri is a 2007 Italian documentary film about illegal toxic waste dumping in Southern Italy. It was directed by Esmeralda Calabria and Andrea D'Ambrosio and written by Calabria, D'Ambrosio and Peppe Ruggiero. It focuses on the progressive poisoning of thousands of square miles of Southern Italian agricultural land and the deadly effects upon people, animals, and plant life in the areas of Caserta and Naples, and behind that the interwoven relations between the Italian government, corrupt pseudo-legitimate businessmen, and the Italian organized crime group, the Camorra. A secondary focus of the film is governmental inaction, in some cases lasting over a decade and a half, despite the pleas of the people affected.
Antonio Giordano is an oncologist, pathologist, geneticist, researcher, professor and write Originally from Italy, he became a naturalized American, he is the Director of the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine in Philadelphia and a Anatomy and Pathological Histology professor at the Department of Medical Biotechnology of the University of Siena. He has discovered some key factors in the regulation of the cell cycle and of mechanisms linked to the onset of tumors. In particular, he distinguished himself for having isolated the tumor suppressor gene, the RB2/p130, subsequently demonstrating how the same gene, introduced through a retrovirus in some animal models has been shown to reduce tumor growth. He also works to communicate science to a general audience, particularly on topics concerning cancer risks associated with toxic waste in the Campania Region.
The Mazzarella clan is a Campanian Camorra clan operating in the city of Naples. The clan is historically considered one of the most powerful groups of the Camorra.
Ecomafia is an Italian neologism for criminal activities related to organized crime which cause damage to the environment. The term was coined by the Italian environmentalist organization Legambiente in 1994 and has since seen widespread use. In Italy, environmental crime is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable forms of criminal activity. As of 2012, an estimated 30% of Italy's waste is disposed of illegally by organized crime syndicates. The United Nations Environment Programme estimated that criminal organizations earned approximately $20–30 billion USD from environmental crimes. According to a 2024 report by Italian NGO Lagembiente, the entire illegal waste disposal market in Italy was worth €8.8 billion in 2023 and was dominated by more than 300 mafia clans.
National DyesCompany and Affiliates, more commonly known as the ACNA, was the first Italian chemical company, active from 1929 to 1999 in Cengio, as well as in Cesano Maderno and Rho, although it traces back to 1882 under different names. The company was best known for the pollution of land and waters related to its production of dyes earning it the nickname of "the poison factory" which would see it brought before the Italian government.