Swimming and diving «off-limits» at Porto Ceresio

No bathing in the lake at Porto Ceresio again this year because of micro-biological pollution. The rule that has been in force for more than 10 years was confirmed last Thursday by the Agency for the Protection of Health (ATS) of Insubria who sent to all the Mayors of the Municipalities concerned the official note that, on the basis of the last controls carried out last May, shows the state of waters of the locations that come under its jurisdiction and the schedule of the monitoring that will be carried out monthly for a constant and precise assessment of the situation.

On the whole, we are talking about 82 points between Varesotto and Comasco, 69 of which were considered healthy and 13 of which were not. Particularly, along the Italian shores of Ceresio, bathing has been granted in all places except Porto Ceresio where the presence of contaminants per liter of water has been defined excessive. The water quality at Lavena Ponte Tresa is barely sufficient, but is excellent at Montelago di Brusimpiano, whereas the Como shore has no limits to bathing in the various localities of the area. As previously mentioned, further monitoring is planned during the next months and as a consequence, in case of values higher than the predefined thresholds, it could be decided that bathing is not allowed also during summer.

Despite the promises made in the past by the local authorities and the start of the construction of a new purification plant, the situation at Porto Ceresio is still serious. In the past, the Canton and in particular the Department of the Territory had raised many complaints. A very serious situation that also involves the neighbouring municipalities of Porto Ceresio, as shown by the massacre of fish found in the last few days in the Rio Bolletta, the main watercourse that flows into the Italian lakeside municipality, for years accused of carrying the greatest polluting load in the lake. Some hundreds of fish, including vaironi, trout, char, agoni and rudd, were found in the stretch between the bridge of via Cuasso and the treatment plant. The discovery was made by the environmental activist Carlo Ippoliti who immediately alerted the authorities. In the meantime some fishes have been collected on the spot and delivered immediately to ATS Insubria which will proceed to the analysis. One of the most probable hypothesis of the poisoning is that of an unidentified chemical substance that could have been poured into the river by a company in the Molinara canal that comes from Arcisate and crosses a part of the Bisuschio territory or in the Cavallizza canal that flows in the Cuasso al Monte territory. However, a fault of the old purification plant would seem to be excluded. It is also probable that the chemical substance has reached the lake: this considering the fact that at the mouth of Bolletta some dead carp have been found.