Capri's Blue Grotto Not a 'Toilet Bowl' for Mafia

ROME, August 28, 2009 — -- When a pollution scare closed one of the most visited tourist sites on the Italian island of Capri earlier this week, there were political recriminations, suspicions of organized crime involvement and environmentalist outrage.

But after all the fury, authorities have now decided that the beautiful Blue Grotto was not used as a toilet bowl for the island's waste removal issues.

Authorities allowed the giant cave to reopen Thursday after a laboratory analysis of the water determined it contained no toxic substances.

On Tuesday, three boatsmen and their passengers noticed a strong smell and a yellowish foam floating on the water inside the Grotto -- the sea cave on Capri's coastline that draws in visitors from all over the world to see its crystal clear blue water.

The fumes from the slick reportedly burned their eyes. One boat driver became nauseous and the passengers felt sick. The people were later examined by doctors, and authorities took the precaution to close the site despite the protests of other boat drivers trying to take advantage of the rush during peak tourist season.

Capri is located off Naples -- a city known for its waste disposal problems and the infiltration of organized crime.

Suspicions that the local mob, the Camorra, may have behind the dumping of raw sewage into the Naples Bay were reported earlier in the week, and some politicians quickly pointed the blame toward the Camorra as the cause of the pollution in the famous Capri caves.

But the authorities in Naples cleared the Camorra of involvement by Thursday evening, despite saying they still do not know what caused the fumes which were strong enough to briefly hospitalize those who came in contact with it.

"We are pursuing our inquires to establish the causes of the episode," Giovandomenico Lepore, Naples Chief Prosecutor, told the media.