Holidaymakers splash in the turquoise waters of the Rosignano Solvay
beach in Tuscany and laze on its pristine white sands -- most of them
fully aware that the picture-perfect swimming spot owes its allure to a
nearby factory.
"I discovered it on Google Maps," said Dutch tourist Lieuya, who
traveled to the beach with his family to enjoy a setting more
reminiscent of the Caribbean than of northern Italy.
"I was told it's not dangerous, that the colour comes from the soda factory next door," he told AFP.
Questions have lingered for decades over why the sea and sand are
such startling colours -- with some environmentalists suggesting the
phenomenon is caused by heavy metals emitted by the plant.
The beach, about four kilometers (two-and-a-half miles) long, is
named after the Solvay factory, which produces soda ash for making
glass as well as sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda.
The plant strenuously denies polluting the surrounding coastline.
Tourists taking a dip or settling down in beach chairs for a light
pasta lunch are not worried about the striking contrast between the
waters off Rosignano Solvay and those of the nearby Monte alla Rena
beach.
"Every time I come here, I think that if swimming is allowed by
local, regional and national authorities, we can believe them when they
say that the water is clean," says Italian teacher Marina, who declined
to give her last name.
A notice from the regional environmental protection agency Arpat at the beach entrance says the water quality is "excellent".
Swimming is banned along a small stretch of the beach, but that is because of a strong current in the area.
The plant, some 25 kilometers south of the port city Livorno, opened
at the start of the last century and a new town -- Rosignano Solvay --
sprang up to house workers and their families.
Today, the global chemical giant operates in 61 countries and boasts some 24,500 employees.
- Reflection of the sky -
"Solvay was like a mother to this area of Tuscany. We called it
'mamma'," Leonardo Martinelli, a journalist born in the town and whose
mother worked at Solvay for half a century, told AFP.
Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay, the plant's founder, "guaranteed
well-being by opening a school, a hospital and a theater," he said.
The factory has ensured "the unemployment rate has always been low," he added.
The group's industrial director Davide Papavero told AFP the company "respects all the rules of a high-risk site".
"The plant... only discharges powdery deposits of limestone, a
harmless substance that is safe for the environment, but explains the
white color of the sand," he said.
The startling blue of the water is caused by the reflection of the sky against the white sea floor, Papavero added.
Local mayor Daniele Donati also insists the plant's activities "do not pose any health problems".
But Maurizio Marchi, from Italy's Medicina Democratica health association, says the plant is a blight.
"The reality is that for a century, this place has been a Solvay landfill, an industrial landfill," he insists.
Environmentalists have also deplored the gutting of limestone hills near San Vincenzo and mass extraction of rock salt.
Manolo Morandini, a journalist with local daily Il Tirreno who has
written extensively on the subject, says Marchi's concerns would once
have been valid, but no longer.
"In the 1980s it was indeed a toxic beach. But the production cycle
that used mercury and heavy metals has been changed," he said.
He says the famous white beach is nothing more than an "artificial"
construct -- one which nonetheless offers holidaymakers a slice of
paradise.
Source - TheJakartaPost
