Environmental pollution Extractive activity has a negative impact on aquifers due to pollution of soil and surface and groundwater, with both environmental and public health implications for the populations that are supplied with it. constituting a serious environmental pollution problem. Due to the high mechanization and industrialization of the mining processes, other pollutants such as
heavy metals and, especially,
hydrocarbons are dispersed into the mountain environment and groundwater in considerable quantities. Other relevant impacts are the dispersion of dust into the atmosphere, noise and the abandonment of waste at high altitudes. Stone companies have also been accused by environmentalists of
greenwashing.
Destruction of habitats and ecosystems , which nearly wiped out an entire mountain range The Apuan quarries are a serious threat to the habitats and to the naturalistic heritage of the mountain range as they cause the destruction of the flora, the stripping of the soil and the profound modification of the environment and the original landscape. These activities insist on an area of great natural value, high
biodiversity and
geodiversity, recognized as a regional natural park and UNESCO World Geopark. The Apuan Alps contain about 50% of Tuscan biodiversity, including some
endemics. Rare and
relict species are also present among the flora and fauna, including the rare
alpine newt, threatened by the Valsora Quarry (area of herpetological relevance IT130TOS003 recognized by the Societas Herpetologica Italica) and the possible reopening of Crespina Quarry II, at the foot of
Mt. Sagro, and endangered species like
wolf and
European wildcat. The industrial activity of the quarries interferes directly or indirectly with a protected territory, which is part of the
European network Natura 2000 and includes areas classified as
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Special Protection Areas,
Special Areas of Conservation, Sites of Community Importance, WWF Oasis,
LIPU Oasis and where there is an active project for the protection of the wolf in collaboration with the
National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. The mining activities subtract water from the sources, while the marmettola (very fine marble dust), produced by them in large quantities, deposits on the bed of the watercourses, destroys microsystems and represents a serious risk for the existence of some animal species. Moreover, it penetrates into the karst network, modifying the quality of groundwater and favoring the presence of epigean species, which threaten the more fragile hypogean ones. Therefore, quarries are also a serious threat to Apuan geodiversity and the
karst activities present, which are particularly represented and significant in this mountain range. Numerous cavities fall within the quarry area, despite the fact that they are protected, and many times they have been intercepted and damaged by mining activities, or filled with debris. Even the Antro del Corchia, Italy's largest karstic cave and one of the most important caves in Europe, is said to have suffered damage from nearby quarries. In the Apuan Alps there is also the largest water reserve in Tuscany, put at risk by the mining activity due to its direct use, and the modification of the karst network. Moreover, the "marmettola" (marble slurry), besides being chemically contaminated by hydrocarbons and metals, is strongly polluting also by mechanical action: it fills the interstices and waterproofs the surfaces eliminating the habitats of many species, modifies the processes of groundwater supply, speeds up the surface flow of water, infiltrates the karst network modifying the paths of groundwater up to cause the drying up or the deterioration of the sources. The effect of quarries on local aquifer reserves results in significant economic and environmental damage to the Apuan territory, according to a study published in 2019 in the journal Water. and the increase of
extreme weather events.
Health risks to local people stream invaded by marmettola, on 28 August 2023 The health of the people in the Apuan basin is threatened by the deterioration of the quality of
drinking water due to pollution from marmettola, which is contaminated with dangerous chemical compounds such as
hydrocarbons and
heavy metals. Another risk factor is the release of
marble dust into the atmosphere, which, containing up to 5%
silica, can cause
pneumoconiosis, such as
silicosis.
Landscape impact Quarries cause the irreversible modification with very high landscape impact on the
geomorphology of the places, including some peaks and ridges, thanks to the exemption arranged by Tuscany Region. Such damages have also affected the profiles of some of the highest and most significant mountains in the range. Examples of these irreversible changes are the disappearance of the Falcovaia Peak, whose peak was entirely removed by the Cervaiole Quarry, the lowering of several tens of meters of the Focolaccia Pass by the Piastramarina Quarry, and the loss of the summit cusp of Carchio Mount. The Tuscany Region, in derogation of the Italian Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape that protects "
the mountains for the part exceeding 1,600 meters above sea level for the Alpine chain and 1,200 meters above sea level for the Apennine chain and islands, glaciers and glacial cirques, parks and national or regional reserves, as well as the territories of external protection of parks" allows excavation even beyond 1,200 m above sea level and in the areas of the Regional Natural Park of the Apuan Alps. For this reason, in 2020 the Europa Verde party, which aims to close the quarries in the park and to repeal the regional exemptions, has raised the issue in the institutional office and has proposed a
referendum to repeal these regional laws. Because of environmental protection deemed insufficient,
Il Fatto Quotidiano called the Parco naturale regionale delle Alpi Apuane a "
joke regional park". Also from a hiking, mountaineering and speleological point of view, the Apuan Alps are a territory of great value, rich in trails, vie ferrate (the one on
Mount Procinto, opened in 1893, is the oldest in Italy),
climbing routes and karst cavities, whose very existence is often threatened by the quarrying activity,
mountain huts and
bivouac shelters. In addition, several stages of the
Grand Italian Trail are located in the mountain range. There are also numerous ancient roads and paths including the
Via Vandelli and the Via del Volto Santo. Finally, in addition to the landscape damage due to the irreversible change of places, also the presence of machinery and industrial infrastructure of the quarries are a source of visual pollution of an area of high landscape value.
Destruction of historical and cultural heritage The Apuan Alps are rich in historical, artistic, archaeological and cultural evidence, including some very ancient ones, being among the few regions in Italy where there are sure traces of
Paleolithic civilization remaining. There are also historical evidences covering a time span from the early Iron Age, to the civilization of the
Ligures Apuani, to Roman civilization, to the Middle Ages and to the modern and contemporary ages, some of them related to the marble mining activity itself. There are also testimonies of the
Gothic Line, of the
Italian resistance movement and of the
Second World War, such as the Parco Nazionale della Pace di Sant'Anna di Stazzema (
Peace National Park) in
Sant'Anna di Stazzema, the Parco della Resistenza (
Resistance Park) at
Monte Brugiana and the Sentiero della Libertà (
Freedom Trail) in
Molazzana. In 2021 the Club Alpino Italiano also proposed the establishment of a Cultural Park of the Apuan Alps, or poorly protected and enhanced because of it, as in the case of Cava di Fossacava, the largest quarry of Roman origin in Europe, whose management has attracted criticism from Italia Nostra and other associations. and which was saved by the intervention of the Italian
Ministry of Culture, which in 2021 declared it a "good of historical and artistic interest". To protect the Apuan historical assets related to the ancient mining activity, in 2000 it was decreed the establishment of the "Parco Archeominerario delle Alpi Apuane" (
Apuan Alps Archeo-mineral Park), whose actual establishment is however suspended since 2006, despite the favorable opinions of local authorities. Also thanks to the mobilization of citizens, the request was rejected.
Indirect negative impacts ) High indirect negative impacts of the quarries that fall on the Apuan territory are those related to the intense road transport of the extracted material: road accidents (including the loss of truck loads), air pollution, noise, inconveniences related to traffic and the wear and tear of the roads themselves. These indirect pollutants have an additional environmental impact and are the cause of the worsening quality of life in the Apuan area. A particularly uncomfortable event was the several collapses in a street in
Colonnata in 2018, due to a nearby quarry. To facilitate the mining activity, the "Strada dei Marmi" (
Marble Road) was built in 2012, reserved for truck traffic and closed to common traffic. The maintenance costs of the road, which is subject to high wear and tear, are borne by the community as the expected tolls have never been collected. The No Cav movements also emphasize the "external costs" of the marble supply chain, i.e., all those costs that would fall indirectly on the community. According to a 2006 study, released by environmental associations, for every ton of marble extracted, the costs would amount to 56 euros for the company and 168 euros for the community. An example of such costs, are the substantial expenses incurred by the municipalities of Massa and Carrara for the maintenance of the aqueduct filters, damaged by the marmettola. The project, strongly opposed by several fronts, was not realized.
Low economic impact on the territory According to some observers, including
Il Sole 24 Ore, the positive economic impact of the marble industry on the territory is it is getting smaller and smaller. Even on the employment front, the sector would be declining: according to Corriere della Sera, the number of direct employees in the quarries would have dropped from 16,000 in the 1950s to about 1,000 today. while the marble sector offers less and less work, poorly paid and moreover in safety conditions that have often been considered insufficient. Moreover, according to some national media, the public budget would have a minimal income from mining and sometimes not even the entire amount due would be paid. In addition to these considerations, there are the "external costs" of marble processing, i.e., those indirect costs borne by the community, which would be approximately three times those incurred directly by mining companies. even going so far as to compare the local economic reality to that typical of colonies. The ownership of many quarries is in the hands of foreign
multinationals, The lack of attention for the territory and for the quarry workers themselves is a long-standing theme, if we think that even
Charles Dickens, when he visited the quarries of Carrara in 1845, was struck by the backwardness of the production system, so much so that he accused the
Duke of Modena, then lord of the city, of having abandoned it, as he reports in his book
Pictures from Italy. The presence of mining activity, by its nature
non-renewable and considered unsustainable, is also considered a brake to any alternative and renewable economic development model, which enhances the tourism and
agroforestry potential of the Apuan Alps. The legal status of the ownership of many Apuan quarries is complex and originates from the concept of "beni estimati" and from an edict of Countess Maria Teresa Cybo Malaspina in 1751. Although in 1995 the Italian
Constitutional Court had ordered that quarry concessions were always temporary, despite the appeal of numerous intellectuals against the alleged "
privatization". The
court also clarified that legislating on this subject is a
state competence and not a
regional one, so on 12 October 2021, the
5 Star Movement requested the scheduling of the parliamentary debate on the Tuscan Regional Law 35/2015, to incorporate the "
beni estimati in the municipal properties. The
Cassation has also excluded in 2018 that the usucaption can be applied on the marble beds. Some quarries located in the municipalities of
Vagli Sotto and
Stazzema (Arni) insist on civic use land, despite the fact that on them is prohibited the activity of excavation, according to the judgment no. 6132 of 21 September 2021 of the
Court of Appeal of
Rome.
Ephemeral use of the mineral: no longer art but industrial additives The fact that on average about 75% of the extracted stone in the quarries is made up of flakes subsequently pulverized to produce
calcium carbonate, processed by multinationals such as Omya and destined for industrial uses, while only 25% is stone mainly used in the building sector and that only 0.5% is still used in the field of art that has made Carrara marble famous, In order to try to mitigate this situation, Legambiente proposed, as observations to the Carrara "PABE" (a public quarries plan) presented in the last years, to limit the extraction activity to the areas with less fractured marble and to employ the low-altitude tunnel extraction, which would allow to quickly reach the little fractured mineral, instead of the surface excavation. However, this appeal went unheeded. In 2022, the Tuscany Region's new Quarry Plan imposed a minimum block or slab yield of 30 percent (reducible to 25 percent at the municipal level) on marketable material for obtaining a new permit. Industrialists filed a recall to the Regional Administrative Tribunal against this provision, losing it.
Alleged Mafia infiltration and widespread illegality Piero Franco Angeloni, in his book
Gli anni bui della Repubblica (The dark years of the Republic), claims that there was
Mafia infiltration in the world of quarries in Carrara from the 1980s to 1992. According to this reconstruction, in 1982
Raul Gardini let
Cosa Nostra enter the "Calcestruzzi" company, leader of the Ferruzzi Group of his father-in-law Serafino Ferruzzi, through Antonino and Salvatore Buscemi,
Totò Riina's men. To the management of the quarries Buscemi would have put his brother-in-law Girolamo Cimino. In 1987, Lorenzo Panzavolta, known as "il Panzer", Ferruzzi's partner, suggested the acquisition of Sam and Imeg (at that time part of
Eni), which controlled most of the marble basins of Carrara. Moreover, bribes would have been given to some politicians to secure a series of public contracts in
Sicily related to the desulphation and disposal of waste from the old
Enel power plants, in which marble granules were used, and which Gardini won. The Mafia would have also managed the illegal traffic of waste, in particular through the so-called "
poison ships" departing from the Port of Carrara and La Spezia. Following the murder of the entrepreneur Alessio Gozzani, the prosecutor Augusto Lama started investigations on Sicilian Mafia infiltration in Carrara, but the investigation was stopped by the then minister
Claudio Martelli. The rooting of organized crime in the city is also testified by the murder of the engineer Alberto Dazzi through a
car bomb in 1991. According to some hypotheses, some of the explosives used in the 1992 Mafia massacres would have come from the Apuan quarries. Not only in that period of time, the Apuan quarries have actually been repeatedly investigated by the judiciary for alleged Mafia infiltration. In 1994, the Lusa-Lanzoni bivouac on Monte Corchia was completely destroyed by fire a few days after the judiciary seized the nearby
Cava dei Tavolini for environmental violations. After several changes of hands, not very transparent according to the Carrara Permanent Assembly, In addition, there have been numerous investigations for
environmental crimes,
health and safety,
labour law, and
tax evasion, so much so that alleged "mafia systems" have sometimes been evoked, for example in the book "Terra Bianca" (
White Land) by Giulio Milani. following which a solidarity demonstration was organized. On 17 February 2021, the car of the president of the Regional Natural Park of the Apuan Alps, Alberto Putamorsi, caught fire in the night. In May 2020, the president's house had been raided as part of an investigation for corruption and rigged contracts known journalistically as "Sistema Vagli" (
Vagli System) (named after the village of
Vagli Sotto, at the center of the investigation) and which had also involved the seizure of Cava Prispoli. Suspicions for the fire were directed towards both the marble world and environmentalists. The Mediterranean Observatory on organized crime and mafias, of the Caponnetto Foundation, in its 2020 report reports the presence in the
province of Massa-Carrara of numerous organized crime groups.
Poor safety and numerous deaths at work The extraction of stone in the basin of the Apuan Alps has always been a high-risk activity, which over the centuries has killed hundreds of lives. For example, in one in 1864 there were as many as eleven deaths. The increasing industrialization of the sector led to a decrease in fatal accidents, which nevertheless remained very numerous (22 deaths in 1965 and one death per year. As for quarries: one in 2006, one in 2007, one in 2010, one in 2012, two in 2015, four in 2016, none in 2017, two in 2018. In the supply chain, on the other hand, there were 1340 injuries and three fatal accidents between 2006 and 2018, for a total of as many as fifteen deaths in twelve years, with a peak between 2015 and 2016. According to data collected by the local HSE Authority, between 2006 and 2015 there were an average of 102 accidents per year in Carrara's quarries; considering that there were 700–800 people employed at the mining sites, this means an incidence of one injured person for every seven workers. As reported by the Corriere della Sera, according to the Quarrymen's League these data could be downwardly biased due to occupational blackmail that would push workers not to report accidents. the number of non-fatal injuries also began to rise again. == Aims and proposals ==