End of Italy as we know it?

In 2011, Italy celebrates its 150th birthday, so viva Garibaldi and his taste in red shirts. This assumes, of course, that an ecological disaster of the grandest kind doesn’t bring down this youthful country quicker than the barbarians wasted the rump of the Roman Empire.

Since the Mafia (Camorra branch, specifically) took over garbage disposal in the Naples area and created the ‘Triangle of Death’ by dumping toxic waste in a populated part of the local countryside, they’ve moved on apace. With lessons about the profitability of toxic waste disposal duly learned, they’re now using their expertise to deal with really large quantities.

Their method is simple: the stuff arrives in the Bay of Naples by ship. They take the ship back out to sea and sink it off the coast of Italy, or Greece, depending on the wind. Rumour has it that they’ll even sink ships carrying nuclear waste. It’s a dirty job…

You may have heard of Trafigura, a Dutch registered oil trading company who came up with a stunning plan to dump a shipload of pollution on Africa’s Ivory Coast. It was much cheaper solution than paying to have it processed in the Netherlands. ‘A no-brainer, according to accountants. Thus, 30,000 Ivoreans were seriously affected – sixteen died - and Trafigura’s sub-contractor got 20 years in a gaol without air conditioning, hopefully.

For Trafigura, the no-brainer may prove to be an expensive exercise in malicious irresponsibility, but not the crime against humanity that it ought to be. And there was no need for it. One call to Naples would have solved the problem and the toxic brew would now be at the bottom of the Med with all the rest.

Swordfish sandwich, anyone? Or would you prefer tuna?