The reclamation operations continue in the "Eco X" plant on the Pontina. A nightmare that began on Friday morning with the flames in the special and industrial waste depot and that it still keeps the citizens of the coast and southern districts of Rome apprehensive for the toxic cloud full of dioxins and, it is feared, asbestos.
Above all, it is the specter of asbestos that continues to terrorize citizens: the Velletri prosecutor's office has instructed ARPA to verify the degree of toxicity possibly released into the air and data on the qualitative degree of air pollution, i.e. the nature of the dust concentrations, should be available by Thursday. According to the first surveys, the levels of pm10 in the air in the immediate vicinity of the fire on the Pontina on Saturday 5 May were almost three times higher than the risk threshold. In detail, on 5 May the concentration of pm10 was 130 micrograms per cubic meter, when the limit set is 50 micrograms. The next day, that is Sunday, the values dropped to 73 micrograms, still above the threshold.
Meanwhile, both in Pomezia and in nearby Ardea grazing and cultivation have been prohibited because the fear not only for the air you breathe is also and above all for the fruit and vegetables that end up in the markets throughout Lazio, including Rome. In this regard, the Centro Agroalimentare di Roma (Car), the logistics and distribution center through which fruit and vegetables pass through and end up on tables in Rome and Lazio, is arranging spot checks on all products arriving at the headquarters from the affected areas of Lazio, in particular on leafy vegetables.
The operation, they explain from the Car, concerns above all the possible presence of dioxins in foods at danger levels. From the CAR, which fears a "psychosis" effect among consumers, however, they underline that for now no restrictive indications have been received from the regional authorities in charge and that, in any case, "greenhouse products are safe. The CAR has now achieved - they remark - total traceability and traceability of the products that pass through it on the basis of the marketing and transport documents. This leads, at the moment, to not accrediting alarmism phenomena ".
Also the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, he tried to reassure the citizens. "We are continuing to monitor the situation - she says - At the moment the latest data on air quality do not reveal any critical issues and they are all within the norm". The schools in Pomezia will remain closed for another two days "to allow for extraordinary cleaning and washing of the dust that has settled in recent days. This is in order to allow a return to school on a higher security basis".
