What Are the Truths About the Kosovo-Bombs Under Lake Garda?
What happened to the Kosovo bombs, now on the depths of Lake Garda, dropped from a F-15 military aircraft of the United States of America returning from a mission in Kosovo? No one knows how to answer that question.
Reemerging in the headlines these days, thanks to national concerns regarding depleted uranium projectiles used in the Balkans — now at the center of controversy over suspected links to blood diseases like acute leukemia among military personnel stationed in those areas — the question has also become popular among the populations around Garda.
Especially because the accommodating waters of the lake, within some hidden fold of the 370 square kilometers they cover, harbor six American souvenirs — alongside ancient galleons, World War II bombs, and alleged treasures of Mussolini.
And so far, at least officially, no one has provided unambiguous clarification on whether the six bombs dropped in Garda on April 16, 1999, contained depleted uranium. More difficult than winning the Superenalotto, in fact, is determining the exact locations where the bombs were dropped and the type of ordnance used.
Several months after April 1999, some divers from the Italian law enforcement forces, together with U.S. personnel, unsuccessfully searched the lakebed for the ordnance.
Initially, the searches focused on a water area between Torri, Toscolano Maderno, and Bardolino. Later, they moved further south, between Pal del Vò and Sirmione.
Official interventions and responses
Indeed, along the Veronese coast from Punta San Vigilio to the municipal territory of Bardolino, the Port Authority under the Regione Veneto issued several orders, the last on October 7, 1999, prohibiting «any form of underwater activity, anchoring, and fishing» in that area, which spans several square kilometers.
Nor were the fishermen of the Garda Cooperative, accustomed to fishing in those flourishing waters, exempt from the official ban, and from that moment on, they could no longer carry on their activity.
Sources from the law enforcement agencies now state that none of the orders from 1999 have been revoked. That is, the section of the lake indicated on a nautical map attached to the order remains off-limits for any activity.
Therefore, at least in theory, naval police, lake police, and others are responsible for safety and should still report fishermen, tourists, and anyone failing to comply with the Port Authority of Verona order.
In 1999, the mayor of Torri, Alberto Vedovelli, «at the request of the Communist Refoundation Party», as the mayor himself explained, had filed a «letter to the Prefect to seek clarification regarding the matter and obtain more precise information».
«That letter», confirms Vedovelli, «is still unanswered. No one has responded to it».
Furthermore, deputy Alleanza Nazionale member Alberto Giorgetti recently promoted a parliamentary question to the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Defense to find out if Italy plans to recover the bombs and what urgent initiatives have been undertaken to «prevent any risk of pollution in the lake and surrounding areas, thereby safeguarding public health».
Finally, in order not to cause unnecessary alarm among Garda residents, it should be noted that measurements by firefighters monitoring radioactivity levels periodically along the lake shores do not show worrying data or increases in radioactivity (as reported a few days ago by L’Arena).
It is also considered highly unlikely that radioactive pollution or risks to the Garda populations exist, given the depth of the lake waters where the bombs may have fallen.
Nevertheless, knowing officially whether the devices contain pollutant materials harmful to the lake or dangerous for people, and understanding the actual probabilities of retrieving these bombs from their temporary «lake dump», does not seem out of place — at least for the citizens of Garda.
Gerardo Musuraca