Palermo Citizen Action Group Launches WhatsApp Community for Local Clean-Up and Waste Management

Water Quality Data and Official Reassessment

According to data compiled by the Ministry of Health from the Provincial Health Authority (ASP), samples collected in May and June show low bacterial counts along the shore. At Via Messina Marine 328 in La Bandita, technicians recorded 15 colonies of enterococci and 10 colonies of Escherichia coli per 100 milliliters of water, placing the water quality in the good category. Further out and past local remediation zones, the water quality is classified as excellent.

Palermo’s councillor for the environment, Sergio Marino, stated that the municipal administration is prepared to ask the ASP to revoke the swimming ban that has been in place for 48 years, pending final administrative steps. Ne sapremo di più in settimana, ma questi dati premiano l’impegno del Comune per la bonifica della costa sud (palermo.repubblica.it), Marino said. The improvement follows the suppression of direct sea discharges, the activation of the city’s sewage treatment plant, and clean-up operations carried out by the firm Sering under a municipal contract.

Expert Analysis on Health Risks

Marine biologist Silvano Riggio argued that the longstanding prohibition at Acqua dei Corsari, which has been banned to swimmers since 1968, stemmed from excessive caution. Il divieto di balneazione ad Acqua dei Corsari è, come sosteneva l’igienista Luigi Dardanoni, frutto di un eccesso di precauzione (palermo.repubblica.it), Riggio noted. He explained that enterobacteria survive for only about two hours outside of their natural environment and that standard stomach acidity would neutralize them if ingested accidentally. Riggio added that the reopening of the southern coast could help relieve overcrowding at Mondello beach.

Despite the favorable water data, regional health authorities have maintained a different official position thus far. Local citizen committees have also pressed authorities to address damaged infrastructure along the coast, including a dilapidated pier at Romagnolo that prompted a formal complaint to the prosecutor’s office by the Comitati Civici association regarding public safety hazards.