Bridge over the Strait, 'boulder' of the Ministry of the Environment:239 "additions" to the project were requested

The Strait of Messina Society will have one month to respond to the requests of the Via-Vas Commission

ROME - The VIA technical commission of the Ministry of the Environment 'demolishes' the final project of the Bridge over the Strait of Messina requesting 155 additions for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA);66 additions for the Impact Assessment (VINCA, verifies the consequences of a work on Natura 2000 sites, protected sites of EU interest, ed.);16 additions to the Land Use Plan (PUT);2 additions for the Verification of Compliance (VO).A 42 page document – available on the website 'Environmental assessments and authorisations:VAS VIA AIA' of the relevant commissions of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security - lines up well 239 requests for document integration to the Stretto di Messina Company, as part of the evaluation of the Messina Strait Bridge project.The Company will have one month to respond to the Commission's requests.

Among the requests is that of “clarify whether the cost estimate has been updated compared to current conditions or if the values ​​indicated in the previous documentation have been maintained".
The commissions also ask to “clarify the methodology adopted with respect to the valuation reported in the document and in relation to the objective of zero net greenhouse gas emissions and climate neutrality" with respect to the evaluation of the negative externalities caused by CO2.
Furthermore, we read the request for "a project summary framework in which all the interventions are fully described, starting from the most dating back, not limited to just the list of modified works“.
Furthermore, "a detailed picture of the compensations envisaged with respect to the unmitigated residual impacts of the work is required to be presented again, for all environmental components, including territory and population".

In the document then “it is requested to present an updated and congruent picture, examining the tsunami hazard conditions in the Strait of Messina area, starting from the identification of potential seismic and non-seismic sources (submarine and/or coastal landslides with evolution into the sea, volcanic activity, etc.), the development of hazard models at a basin and/or regional scale, in order to arrive at the definition of detailed flood scenarios and the related assessment of the impact on land".The analysis, the VIA and VAS commissions point out, "will also have to consider theexamination of historical paleotsunami and tsunami events, their relationships with potential sources, and related inundation and damage scenarios and the corresponding potential effects on the site affected by the works, at present, during construction and in the operation phase".They must then be provided "adequate analyzes of the interaction between the planned works and potential tsunami events, through numerical modeling with land-sea continuity, considering the competing effects due to the simultaneous and/or sequential activation of related sources, for example, seismic events and earthquake-induced landslides.The risk assessments must refer to the pre-operation, during construction and post-operation state".

The results of the requested investigations "must also be integrated into the parts of the EIS dedicated to biodiversity, flora and vegetation, fauna and the marine environment, according to the respective areas".In this integration, "the mitigation and compensation interventions resulting from direct and indirect interference with the Natura 2000 Areas and the mitigation and compensation interventions resulting from impacts on the rest of the territory must be clearly distinguished".
The document also reports the request for more complete and understandable data on the impact on the marine environment, on surface watercourses, on groundwater.

PICKET:“WITH THE REQUEST FOR ADDITIONS YOU PASS THE FIRST STEP VIA-VAS“

“On Monday 15 April, within the deadline established by law, the VIA-VAS Commission of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security approved and transmitted to the Ponte sull'Sretto di Messina spa company the request for additions to the request presented by the latter on 26 February”.This was announced by the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin.“With this request - adds the minister - the project has been started, for the purposes of its updating and completion environmental impact assessment procedure relating to the work”.
“The procedure started with the request of 26 February is connected, on the one hand, to that started in 2011, and, on the other hand, to the note that the Presidency of the Council of Ministers sent to the EU Commission on 8.11.2023 , with some clarifications regarding the EIA and the VINCA", continues the minister.
“In defining the text of the request for integration – which is a typical act of the first part of every environmental impact assessment procedure – account was also taken, as usual, of elements taken from the contributions of ISPRA and non-public entities entitled by law, to express themselves”, concludes Pichetto.

SYRACUSAN:“MASE REQUESTS?NO CRITICAL ISSUES, SAYS PICHETTO"

“The requests of the Via-Vas del Mase Commission were expected, they absolutely did not represent a rejection of the Bridge over the Straitor, but they are legitimate additions proportionate to an enormous project, with over 8 thousand documents".He said it Matilde Siracusano, undersecretary for relations with Parliament and deputy of Forza Italia, speaking on 'Tagadà', on La7.
“I spoke to Minister Pichetto Fratin and also Pietro Ciucci a few minutes ago, and there are no critical issues. The Strait of Messina Society has one month to respond to the requests of the Via-Vas Commission – which, I repeat, are many because the project is extraordinarily large – and it will do so within the expected time frame”.