The U.S. Navy support site base at Gricignano is not immune to the trash crisis that has gripped the southern Italian city of Naples, plagued by uncollected trash that has soiled the city’s image on the world stage. The Italian military will descend on the support site on Thursday to help get rid of the mounds of uncollected garbage. (Sandra Jontz / S&S)
NAPLES, Italy — The Navy would consider relocating some sailors and their families if health studies show that the continuing trash crisis in the city poses short or long-term health risks.
While details for any plans still are too premature to discuss, Navy officials want people living in the area to know that relocation is an option that the Navy is taking seriously, said Lt. Cmdr. Wendy Snyder, a spokeswoman for Navy Region Europe.
A team of U.S. environmental and health experts are in Naples working with their Italian counterparts to review previous health studies and determine what, if any, health risks are associated with living in the Naples area.
But their analysis just started, and it is much too early to make any fact-based conclusions, Snyder said.
The U.S. team is made up of scientists, epidemiologists, physicians, environmental engineers, and others from the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, formally known as the Navy Environmental Health Center.
U.S. Navy and Italian health officials are scheduled to meet in Rome on Thursday to discuss possible health risks associated with the uncollected, piled-up trash.
“They are having a number of meetings and discussions, talking with the water experts, the food experts, etcetera,” Snyder said.
“Depending on the results of the study, protective measures, including relocation, might be necessary,” reads a posting on the base’s Web site, adding health risks associated with living in Naples remain unknown.
The Naples Community Health Awareness Web page lists answers to seven “frequently asked questions” in an effort to keep members informed of the situation.
Navy officials say they anticipate the list will grow as people e-mail questions and concerns. The Web address is: http://www.nsa.naples.navy.mil/ risk/index.cfm.
In addition, both NSA Naples and Navy Region Europe have formed community action groups that meet at least once a week to discuss the situation. Officials also plan to air spots on American Forces Network.
Naples and surrounding areas are home to roughly 9,000 U.S. and NATO servicemembers, civilians and their families.
In June, the commander of Navy Region Europe asked for the expert team to evaluate health risks related to “illegal dumping and inadequate garbage collection,” according to information posted Monday on the U.S. Naval Support Activity Naples Web site.
But trash woes have plagued the city and its surrounding towns for more than a decade, and many news reports have cited an inept government, the local organized crime ring, called the Camorra, and the public’s opposition to new landfills or incinerators as obstacles to remedying the crisis.
The issue once again gained global attention when trash collection stopped in mid-December.
The previous July, a similar crisis prompted the U.S. Embassy in Italy to issue an advisory warning to U.S. citizens of possible health risks posed by rotting trash and the trash fires set by Italian residents in an effort to rid the streets of the problem.
Local physicians say airborne particles and fumes from fires can aggravate respiratory problems.
Depending on what is in the garbage, a fire could release toxic substances into the air, the embassy message stated.
Italian residents of several neighborhoods repeatedly have clashed with officials who want to reopen dump sites sites that have been closed for years.
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