Hey TIS, did you do this?

[oldautiger 1]

Hey Glenn, are you moonlighting in trash disposal there in Naples

May 22, 2007, 9:49AM

Residents of stinky Naples set fire to garbage

Associated Press

NAPLES, Italy — Residents of Naples have begun burning heaps of garbage that have piled up for more than a week, adding potentially toxic smoke to the foul smell permeating the city, officials said Monday.

Mounds of trash have piled as high as 10 feet in some places and blocked entire streets. Collectors had stopped hauling it away because they have nowhere to take it.

The southern Campania region — home to the luxurious Amalfi Coast but also the slums of Naples — has been plagued by garbage crises in recent years. Dumps fill up, and local communities block efforts to build new ones or create temporary storage sites. In 2004, the garbage crisis prompted weeks of protests.

Fire brigades said they extinguished more than 150 fires in and around Naples since Sunday, believed set by residents trying to dispose of the trash. The burning of chemicals have added to the already putrid smell of garbage.

The government recently approved construction of more dumps in the area, but there have been delays in getting them operational.

Last week, the official tapped to deal with the crisis, the respected civil protection chief Guido Bertolaso, resigned as "garbage czar" amid infighting about what to do.

Premier Romano Prodi refused to accept the resignation Monday, officials said.

LINK

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/4825270.html

Don't have to put up with that much longer, see ya soon shipmate

John

[Tiger in Spain 0]

This garbage has been piling up for way more than a week. More like months. Seriously, the trash pile fires here remind me of southern Iraq back in '03. At least there, the smoke was coming from burning remains of old Republican Guard tanks.

This place is a plague waiting to happen. The sooner I leave this s--thole the better. My sinuses are counting down the days!

[oldautiger 1]

This garbage has been piling up for way more than a week. More like months. Seriously, the trash pile fires here remind me of southern Iraq back in '03. At least there, the smoke was coming from burning remains of old Republican Guard tanks.

This place is a plague waiting to happen. The sooner I leave this s--thole the better. My sinuses are counting down the days!

Just about 3 more months brother, hang in there. Put you on the prayer list.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

I appreciate it. It's a shame that we have people living over here in this mess. I live about 10km south-southwest of Capua.

Here's another article that more accurately describes the situtation.

Garbage crisis overwhelms Italy's south

CAPUA, Italy (Reuters) - Hundreds of rubbish bags bake in the sun, a putrid stench hangs over streets of pastel-colored houses and apartment blocks.

This is Capua, a small, historic town like many others on the outskirts of Naples gripped by a garbage crisis that has dogged the southern Campania region for years.

With the few landfill sites in the area topped to the brim, garbage collectors have stopped picking up rubbish, forcing residents to dump their waste on the streets.

"It's an absolute disgrace for the town," said local student Michela Giordano. "The stench is truly unbearable. Look at all these dogs running about. We'll all die at this rate."

Bad administration, shady political deals and the interference of the Mafia are at the heart of the crisis.

The Camorra, Naples' version of the Mafia, is accused by environmentalists of creating illegal waste dumps where it burns hazardous waste. Environmental group Legambiente says the illegal waste racket rakes in as much as 22 billion euros ($30 billion) a year.

Officials estimated as much as 3,000 tonnes of rubbish piled up in the streets of Naples alone before emergency crews finally removed some of it. But the worst is yet to come with the area's main landfill closing in a few days and no substitute ready.

Fearing an epidemic, locals are regularly setting trash piles on fire, despite warnings from authorities this creates toxic fumes.

"The other day I saw a girl walking by who was so overwhelmed by the stench that she ended up vomiting right there in front of the garbage," said Cristina Izzo, owner of a cafe around the corner from a large garbage heap in Capua.

"They have to find a solution because we can't live like this," she said.

EMERGENCY

A 'state of emergency' was declared for large areas of the under-developed south as far back as 1994, but a string of government-appointed refuse supremos have failed to solve the dilemma.

Guido Bertolaso, the latest 'rubbish tsar' appointed last year, has threatened to resign several times because his decisions on where to build new waste dumps are often undermined by local or national policymakers.

Bertolaso, who is also head of Italy's civil protection agency, proposed creating a new waste dump in the town of Serre but that triggered new protests by locals fearing a threat to their health.

Residents say each effort to solve the recurring crisis is counteracted by the Mafia's efforts.

"Behind the emergency, economic interests are being looked after that are not clear or clean," said Pompeii's Bishop Carlo Liberati. "From some parts, this protest has clearly been fuelled by a need to maintain the status quo. But we are already at the limits of our tolerance and I fear the risk of a civil revolt."

But after years of watching the rubbish crisis reappear with alarming regularity, Angelo Rossi is one of many in towns like Capua who is not holding his breath for a solution.

"It's a problem and an embarrassment," he said, sitting at the train station that opens out on to heaps of garbage. "But what can we do? Demonstrate? What use is that?"

Somewhere here

[CCTAU 3,677]

So if everyone knows that burning it creates a toxic fume, then why don;t the residents all get togehter and pick a time to burn it and no one come outside. Or better yet, pick that time to go away for a few hours. I think burning it creates less of a hazard than the rats and the rot that will thrive?

[Captain Liger 0]

Don't they know by burning all that garbage they are contributing to global warming? I hope the Alps melt and Naples becomes a lagoon. They apparently have not watched "An Inconvenient Truth."

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Here's something cool. Google Naples Italy Garbage Trash and click on the first hit that comes up. I married the chick that wrote that article.

For those too lazy to Google