No Cav

Among them are: Andrea Camilleri, Moni Ovadia, Salvatore Settis, Adriano Prosperi, Paolo Maddalena, Tomaso Montanari, Roberta De Monticelli, Maurizio Maggiani, Mario Perrotta, Alberto Asor Rosa, Paolo Cognetti (who has declared himself to be "truly dismayed, beyond being angry, at the condition of the Apuans"[71]), Enzo Fileno Carabba, Angelo Baracca, Vittorio Emiliani, Edoardo Salzano, Pancho Pardiv, Alessandro Gogna, Claudio Lombardi, Alberto Magnaghi, Andrea Lanfriv (a main speaker at the large No Cav protest of 2021[72]), and Rossano Ercolini.

[81] Only in 2021 a party, Europa Verde (Green Europe), led by Eros Tetti, includes in its program the closure of the quarries falling within the Regional Natural Park of the Apuan Alps.

[135][136][137] Extractive activity has a negative impact[138] 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.

[139][140][97] Marmettola, marble dust mixed with oils and sludge from quarrying, should be disposed of as special waste, but is often not properly managed and ends up dispersed in large quantities,[141] constituting a serious environmental pollution problem.

[142][143][144] 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.

[148][149] The Apuan quarries are a serious threat to the habitats[150][151] and to the naturalistic heritage[111][152] 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.

[164] The mining activities subtract water from the sources,[165] 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.

[174] In the Apuan Alps there is also the largest water reserve in Tuscany,[175] put at risk by the mining activity due to its direct use,[165] to the discharge of debris, waste and marmettola, which occlude watercourses and springs[165][176] 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.

[143][144][177] 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.

[178][179][180][171] According to some commentators, the conspicuous removal of materials from mountains and the modification of their orography, would also play a role in the worsening of the local climate[4][181] and the increase of extreme weather events.

[182] 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.

[183] Quarries cause the irreversible modification with very high landscape impact on the geomorphology of the places,[184] including some peaks[16][185][186][187] and ridges,[188] thanks to the exemption arranged by Tuscany Region.

[82][83][199] Because of environmental protection deemed insufficient, Il Fatto Quotidiano called the Parco naturale regionale delle Alpi Apuane a "joke regional park".

[202] 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.

[208] This cultural heritage is sometimes directly threatened by mining[209][210] 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.

[224][225] Some observers have referred to the effects of the stone industry on the Apuan territory as an example of predatory capitalism,[182][241] even going so far as to compare the local economic reality to that typical of colonies.

[249][250][251] 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.

[257] 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.

[267][268][269] 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.

[271] 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 in order 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.

[274][275] 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.

[275] The Permanent Assembly of Carrara also, in collaboration with the journalists Pier Paolo Santi and Francesco Sinatti raised suspicions about the alleged criminal management of waste connected to the Apuan quarries, in the years 2000 and 2010.

[276][277] In addition, there have been numerous investigations for environmental crimes,[278][279] health and safety,[55][240][280] labour law,[55] corruption[281] and tax evasion,[275][282] so much so that alleged "mafia systems" have sometimes been evoked,[283] for example in the book "Terra Bianca" (White Land) by Giulio Milani.

[284][285][108] A sabotage to the vehicle of Sandro Manfredi exponent of the Assemblea Permanente Carrare and the Apuane Presidium of the Gruppo d'intervento giuridico occurred in 2018, fortunately without serious consequences,[286][287][288] following which a solidarity demonstration was organized.

[305] 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.

[354] In 2021, the television channel Dmax Italia broadcast the program "Uomini di Pietra" (Rock Men),[362] distributed by Discovery+, about the extraction of marble in the Apuan Alps, and in particular in the quarries of the company Henraux Spa,[363] arousing criticism from the environmentalist world[364][365] and the Club Alpino Italiano,[366] as it was considered a commercial in favor of "destruction at the expense of nature".

[405] In 2018, following the diffusion of an email exchange between the historical activist Franca Leverotti (member of Gruppo d'intervento giuridico and at the time president of Italia Nostra) and some public bodies, a marble industrialist sued her for slander and defamation,[406] but the court dismissed the proceedings, claiming that what she reported was true.

[296] In August 2021, there was an alleged attack on a quarry in Gorfigliano, with some mechanical equipment set on fire during the night;[413][414][421] an act from which environmentalists actually distanced themselves[422][423] and which is currently under investigation.