MASS DISASTER

ITALY: Mafia profits come at Earth’s expense

Billions of dollars in illicit profits were raked in last year by nearly 200 Mafia clans in Italy. Nothing new you might say. But this money, upwards of $30 billion US, was made by focusing on specific criminal activities whose profit potential stems directly from their abuse of the environment.

The number of crimes involving illegal garbage and hazardous waste disposal was up almost 40 percent.

Organised crime has been strong in Naples where a garbage disposal feud has repeatedly filled the streets with refuse and prompted riots.

In a sign that illegal waste dumps are taking their toll on the local population, a medical study last year showed residents near Naples were more susceptible to some cancers than the average Italian.

… via Alertnet.org,

RUSSIA: Radioactive Wasteland of the Techa River

This is a disturbing and stomach churning article about the environmental disaster that took place, and is still taking place in Russia. This is a must read.

On Sept. 29, 1957, a catastrophic release of radioactivity occurred at Mayak that shot into the air more radioactivity than the blast at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. A cooling system on a radioactive waste storage tank failed, causing an explosion that rained contaminants on an area the size of New Jersey.

Gulnara Ismagilova, a Tatar who was 11 at the time, remembers seeing the sky darken with a greenish fog as she piled potatoes in heaps.

"It was raining the night after the blast, and we could see green spots everywhere," said Ismagilova, 59. "It was some kind of green substance falling from the sky. I can remember seeing blood coming from people's noses and mouths, and people retching."

... via Kansas City.com.

INDONESIA: Disaster of Man's Making Now Threatens Sumatra

In an attempt to expedite post tsunami reconstruction forests are being illegally logged for wood.

Baharuddin, a sawmill manager, said the demand for timber -- and its price -- has risen since people began to rebuild. Some of the best wood goes now for almost $300 a cubic meter.

"That's the tsunami price," he said, with a shrug.

Supply is not a problem. The wood comes "from up there," Baharuddin said, gesturing toward the mountains, "and in the next subdistrict over," indicating another set of mountains.

... via the Washington Post.