The Industries
Bronte, secular center with an agricultural vocation, rejected, since a
long time, any hypothesis of industrial development.
A Council old project to arrange a zone for the setting up of little industries,
after vain attempts and many speeches, was wrecked for lack of incentives
and solicitations, also, by the same citizens.
Better results instead had the building of the Artisans
Zone.
Also, the discovery in the territory of important methane fields rich of
liquid products (gasoline), did not bring any innovation and any impulse to the
traditional economic activities of the country.
Precursor of these discoveries was the brontese
Mario Lupo that already in 1929, solitary and unheeded researcher, was to
prove the existence of oilfields in his Bronte and in Sicily (the "petroliferità"
of Bronte).
The ENI built, in the Piana district (the low part of the town), a
big plant to degasify and build some piping of the methane gas which would take
it to the direction of Catania-Priolo.
The extractive activity continues incessantly, but the important resources found
in Bronte's territory produced very little local occupation and,
unfortunately, did not create any relative advantage to the brontese community.
The only consolation is that, at least, it did not create any further
pollution in the territory.
Few are the present industrial activities on the territory: a small but
blooming industrial pole which counts several companies, a few
wine and olive oil companies, industries for the transformation of agricultural
and zoo technical products, factories of building materials, sawmills.
In remarkable growth and development the tourist industry.
Some little industries, dedicated to the shattering and working of
lava stone and to the transformation of wood in
charcoal still resist (this product, traditionally made and of fine
quality, is also exported abroad).
The charcoal makers of once, were men who
used to live, for most of the year, among the woods of the Nebrodi and
of Etna, cutting timber. Today noting much is changed.
The technique is always the same: put to burn big wood piles covered with
moistened soil to obtain the coal or the charcoal for domestic use.
A small brontese company, with the ways and the technique of always, keeps on
developing this ancient activity, obtaining a good quality product, requested by
many foreign countries.
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