PORT OF TARANTO, 30 MAY 2025 – The Port Network Authority of the Ionian Sea – Port of Taranto has signed an important Memorandum of Understanding with the Harbour Master’s Office of Taranto and ARPA Puglia, initiating a strategic collaboration within the framework of the service “Integrated Environmental Monitoring of the port area of Taranto”.
Under this agreement, the Port Network Authority will grant, for public interest purposes, ARPA Puglia and the Harbour Master’s Office access to the digital platform of the monitoring service, aiming to enable the two bodies to exercise enhanced oversight over environmental quality. The real-time data provided by the monitoring system allows the collection, archiving, and analysis of a wide range of information, constituting a valuable knowledge asset—especially for ARPA and the Harbour Master’s Office, which, by virtue of their institutional roles, continuously monitor and/or certify the condition of the ecosystem.
This initiative, launched through the Memorandum, further reinforces the Port Network Authority’s commitment to environmental protection, consolidating the Authority’s role in sustainable development in support of both the port community and local residents. It also aims to prevent impacts arising from infrastructural developments and related activities within the port, which are designed to facilitate sustainable transport and support the port’s energy transition.
The service “Integrated Environmental Monitoring of the port area of Taranto” — commissioned to the Temporary Grouping of Companies Ambiente S.p.A. – C.I.S.A. S.p.A. – T&A Tecnologia & Ambiente s.r.l. – Studio Effemme s.r.l., and launched in December 2023 — is unique at a national level for its scale and the number of environmental matrices involved. The system entails systematic and continuous monitoring of a wide range of environmental parameters relating to all relevant matrices: seawater, groundwater, marine sediments, filter-feeding organisms, flora and fauna, benthos, air quality, noise, and soil. This monitoring represents a significant innovation compared to previous practices, as it supports constant, multi-temporal, and independent environmental control from the individual phases of infrastructural projects. It relies on a network of stations and measuring points distributed across the port area, with the objective of providing a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the environmental quality status (see the illustrative video for further details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_pkTHjMgiE&t=3s).
The collaboration between ARPA Puglia and the Harbour Master’s Office represents a virtuous model of inter-institutional synergy, benefiting the entire community and the environment.
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