Environmental Risk

Different types of pollution become a matter for civil protection when environmental risk is connected to the likelihood that an event - caused by a sudden change in the physical and chemical parameters that characterize the environmental water air and soil matrices - occurs with immediate or short term repercussions on the health of the resident population in a given area and such as to involve the adoption of special emergency measures.

In actual fact, many areas on national territory have experienced or are experiencing situations such as to require urgent prescriptive operations for the protection of public safety. In this sphere, the Department of Civil Protection is increasingly called upon to intervene.

Furthermore, where land decontamination is concerned, the Department is always involved in the management of SIN - Siti di Interesse Nazionale (sites of national concern) – in other words, the areas identified in relation to site characteristics, to the quantity of and danger posed by pollutants, to the impact on the surrounding environment in terms of health and ecological risk, as well as damage to the cultural and environmental heritage. The sites/areas of national concern require urgent intervention and involve approximately 316 municipalities in all regions of Italy, with approximately 7 million inhabitants.