Friday,
January 25, 2008
US Nuclear Sub Base at Maddalena,
The
ANNOTICO Report
Sardinians
and Italians had been opposed to the opening of this US Nuclear Sub
Base 35 years ago, and had been protesting ever since.
The
protest gained considerable momentum when a French
research institute found that the waters near the base were four times more radioactive
than would usually be expected.
The French study was followed by a Sardinian regional health department report
in April 2005 which said the cancer rate among Sardinian males living near La Maddalena was excessively high, the death rate from
non-Hodgkin's lymphomas among local males was 178% higher than the overall island average, while
bladder cancer rates were 121%
higher.
US Navy leaves Maddalena Base
Controversial facility gave support to nuclear subs
ANSA
January 25, 2008
La Maddalena, - The American
flag was lowered for the last time on Friday at the United States Navy nuclear
submarine base on the island of Santo Stefano, in the Maddalena
archipelago off northern Sardinia.
The base was set up by a secret accord in the depths of the Cold War and
officially opened on January 1, 1973. It was to provide support for nuclear
submarines as well as ships in the US Navy's IV Fleet and NATO ships.
On hand for the flag-lowering ceremony were a host of local residents, the
mayor of La Maddalena and other local officials.
During the ceremony,
The base had been home to 2,600 Americans including military personnel,
civilian employees and their families.
Some 50 Americans will remain at the base to oversee its definitive shutting
down, which is scheduled to take place on February 25.
The Pentagon decided to withdraw from the base in 2005 and in May 2006 Sardinia
Governor Renato Soru and US Ambassador to Italy
Ronald Spogli met to starting hammering out the
details.
At the time, the American ambassador said ''We've been on La Maddalena for more than 30 years and it's been a very
positive experience, But the international situation
has changed, of course, and now it's time to move on''.
''The important thing is that we'll be leaving La Maddalena
in the same positive and friendly manner in which we arrived,'' he added.
Soru, a former dotcom magnate who created Tiscali, was one of many local and national officials who had
campaigned for the subs to go because of environmental fears.
The campaign to close the base gained momentum in January 2004 when a French
research institute found that the waters near the base were four times more
radioactive than would usually be expected.
The radioactivity is believed to have come from an incident in October 2003
when a nuclear submarine ran aground in shallow waters off the
The French study was followed by a Sardinian regional health department report
in April 2005 which said the cancer rate among Sardinian males living near La Maddalena was excessively high.
The report said the death rate from non-Hodgkin's lymphomas among local males
was 178% higher than the overall island average while bladder cancer rates were
121% higher.
The La Maddalena archipelago is part of a wildlife
and sea reserve along with the nearby
There are tentative plans to turn the base into a shipyard for the upkeep of
ferries and mega-yachts and the site was also mentioned as a possible ven ue for the
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