Milan and Contamination is a research project carried out as part of the greater Urban Agriculture Masterplan: Milan CPUL and the Urban Agriculture & Community Food Centre, Milan.
As a former manufacturing base in the heart of one of the most industrious regions in Europe, Milan has suffered a similar fate to that of its industrial neighbours, with large areas of inner city land now left abandoned following a downscaling of industry. Many of these areas suffer local contamination from the accumulation of common pollutants held suspended in the soil. Such pollutants prevent the regeneration of natural ecosystems, even in the areas left derelict and untouched for years. The inherent costs of remediation deter developers from building on the land, and many sites remain vacant. The result is an industrial wasteland, devoid of natural capital which often becomes a target of vandalism and crime, which in turn impacts upon local land values, and perceptions of the inner city.
In a survey carried out in 2007, the Milan Tourism Board found that one of the most objectionable aspects of the city that deter visitors is a widely-held perception that the city is highly-polluted and unhealthy.
After over a century as one of Italy’s most industrious regions, the municipality of Milan is now characterised by the highest levels of contamination in the country. An estimated 6 per cent of the total land area consumed by some form of contamination, compared with an already worrying national average of 2.2 per cent.
National Contamination Vs Provincial Contamination
The map below shows the concentration of contaminated sites across the Lombardia Region, with the provinces with the highest number of sites highlighted in red. Bergamo, in the East of the region, is highlighted as being one of the provinces with a high level of environmental degradation through soil contamination, but the majority of the contamination is largely focused around the municipal area of Milan, with 5 of the city’s districts containing more than 5 contamination sites each.
Distribution of Contaminated Sites across the Lombardia province
Indeed, of the 1287 contaminated sites identified in 2002, by the ARPA Lombardia, over 50% are found within the Milan’s municipal borders, compared with only 11% found in Bergamo, Lombardia’s second most-contaminated urban centre.
Distribution of Contaminated Sites across the Lombardia province
The majority of soil contaminants have been identified as hydrocarbons, inorganic compounds, and heavy metals, resulting from years of operation of fuel stations and depots, quarry landfills, the mechanical and metallurgical industries, fossil fuel refineries, and rail yards. The more expansive areas of the city suffering from soil contamination are the former sites of Milan’s great industrial giants, such as Montedison, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo, only some of which have received the compensation needed to remediate the land for future use.
The schematic section below shows the main contaminating activities in the province of Milan, which is characterised by a high concentration of agricultural and diverse industrial activities. The diagram also details the common contaminant flows which result from each activity to give an idea of the nature of the pollution which needs to be addressed.
Soil Contamination – Sources of Pollution
In their current state, the health of the soil restricts the growth of plant life to only the most resilient varieties, whilst the overhanging costs of remediation discourage development. The result is a wasteland, both environmentally and economically, and a vicious circle – abandoned areas decrease surrounding land value and hinder the ability to generate value for development.
By tackling the problem of contamination, development of derelict areas can take place, which, in turn brings economic and environmental benefits to the city.
Incentives for Remediation – Economic & Environmenal Benefits
Following years as Italy’s most important industrial region, the Milan municipal area now bears the scars of more than a century of soil damage, through contamination and environmental degradation, which currently occupies a staggering 8% of the total municipal area.
The more expansive areas of the city which suffer from soil contamination (shown right) are the former sites of Milan’s great industrial giants, such as Montedison, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo, only some of which have received the compensation needed to remediate the land for future use.
Contamination in the Milan Metropolitan area | Key Brownfield Sites
Rising Groundwater and Contamination
In 1915, the water table depth was recorded as being only one metre below the ground surface- the natural piezometric level. However, following decades of intensive water extraction and consumption through the Twentieth century, peaking in the sixties and seventies, the water table fell to a staggering 40m below ground in some places.
The decline in industry from the 1970s to the present day has, fortunately, allowed the natural aquifer to return to close to its natural levels. However, this ‘naturalisation’ now poses new problems, which were not foreseen as the city expanded in the previous half a century. Two problems associated with the resurgence in the level of the aquifer include local and diffuse contamination from the release of pollutants which have been locked in the previously unsaturated soil, and the flooding of subsurface constructions as a result of groundwater surges.
Rising groundwater releases contamination locked in city soils
The recent Piano Governo del Territorio has signified Milan’s Municipal Government’s intentions to target and remediate huge areas of the city to make improvements to the environmental health of the city.
Land consumption in the Municipal area of Milan, whether by contamination, erosion, or expansion, now equates to around 42 percent of the total, based on a study carried out by the Centro Studi PIM in 2009. The latest Piano Territoriale di Coordinamento Provinciale seeks to contain this consumption to within 45 per cent. If they fail in this goal, and soil consumption continues to rise, it is widely recognised by the scientific community that beyond 55 per cent the damage sustained by the territory will be sufficient to render it incapable of environmental regeneration. This is a highly worrying statistic.
Contamination in the Milan Metropolitan area | Key Brownfield Sites
Industry and Handicraft
Between 1960 and 1995, around 510 hectares previously occupied by productive plant, were abandoned due to the large-scale shift from the manufacturing sector to the information/service sector, and the outplacement of many of the largest industrial producers, such as Pirelli, Alfa Romeo, and Autobianchi, to permit greater expansion.
Due to the nature of these industries, the common pollutants found in the former sites include petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and sulphate compounds, some of which have diffused across vast areas of land.
Rail Infrastructure
The third largest polluter of inner-city land in Milan is the rail network, which has been instrumental in maintaining Milan’s industrial sector to over a century. Largely diminished since its heyday 40 years ago, the vast areas of railyards and stretches of abandoned track show the damage caused by diesel spillages and corroded metals, which stunts the growth of plants which nevertheless strive to reclaim the abandoned land.
These stretches of underutilised land in the city hold great potential for conversion to public parkland, once the necessary remediation has been undertaken.
Depots and Distribution
The dramatic shift from the Fordist model of manufacture and mass distribution, where vast areas of land were required for complete production on-site, to the Post-Fordist/ service sector, which places greatest value in information, removed the need for large areas of depot and storage, leaving vast swathes of the city redundant.
Common pollutants which remain locked in the local soil include petroleum-based chemicals from haulage, as well as heavy-metals and sulphates, from metal corrosion and exhaust fumes.
Illegal Dumping
Still a huge problem in modern Milan, the dumping of industrial wastes, as well as commercial fly-tipping, commonly on already-contaminated, abandoned brownfield land, complicates the process of remediation by adding unknown and potentially-harmful mixtures, rendering basic remediation techniques ineffective.
Such contaminants can range anywhere from solvents, to petroleum hydrocarbons, to pesticides, paints, acids, and alcohols, to sulphate compounds and heavy metals
Fuel Stations
Despite a decline in the manufacturing and distribution sector, the distribution of fuel stations and storage depots across the urban landscape of Milan has led to problems of contamination through seepage of petroleum-based hydrocarbons, which can become suspended in soil, restricting the growth of plant life and other bio-diversity.
This can not only become a serious local problem, but contamination of surface and underground water sources can lead to diffuse contamination over a much greater area.
Waste Treatment & Disposal
Together, the disposal and treatment of household waste generated by the increasing urban population of Milan, has created the second greatest source of local contamination in the municipal area, and poses the greatest problems for future remediation, due to such a large number of pollutants concentrated in a single area.
The conversion of abandoned quarries to landfill sites encourages the accumulation of large concentrations of contaminants, which commonly seep into the ground, contaminating groundwater, and also damaging the local ecosystem.
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