Valle del Sacco, 'inverted' landfill in Colleferro for the safety of the Arpa 2 site

Work has already started and will be finished in just over a year

COLLEFERRO (Rome) – A landfill for hazardous waste but "in reverse". Because the waste is already there here. This will make the site called Arpa 2 (because it has the shape of a musical instrument) in Colleferro, in the former Caffaro area, safe.

In 2005, following the discovery of high concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane in milk samples taken from livestock farms, it started from here the state of socio-economic-environmental emergency of the Sacco Valley (proclaimed by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers). The works have already started and will be finished in just over a year, meanwhile this morning the President of the Region, Francesco Rocca, together with the Environment Councilor, Elena Palazzo, to that of waste, Fabrizio Ghera, to the mayor of Colleferro, Pierluigi Sanna, and to the director of the regional waste cycle, Wanda D'Ercole, carried out an inspection to monitor the progress of the works.

Arsenic, lead, pesticides, hydrocarbons and pesticides.There is everything underground. The contamination reaches up to 20 meters deep in some places.And in fact the bulldozers will dig up there.In reality they are already in action, with the necessary works to protect the future landfill from water.“A C-shaped diaphragm will be created that will go underground up to 23 meters, where there is no trace of water– explained D'Ercole – and will extend for 90 metres.In this way only rainwater will arrive and no more runoff water."

The characterization of the waste and contaminants has already been done, so the technicians know where the soil is contaminated and where it is not.In this way they will be able to proceed by removing the land which is most likely not contaminated, they will confine it and further analyze it by placing it in some already prepared neighboring bays:if that land is confirmed not contaminated then it will be used to cover the excavations underway in 6 other sites (also in the process of being made definitively safe) of the Colleferro industrial consortium. Conversely, the contaminated land will be returned from where it was taken and arranged on several layers until the "reverse landfill" is completed which will then be closed with capping. It is estimated that there are more than 50 thousand cubic meters of contaminated soil for which an equal amount of clean land will be "returned".

“The safety regarding the intervention we are carrying out is maximum”, D'Ercole guaranteed to President Rocca, explaining to him all the steps of the various operations and the precautions taken.The total invasion will be 175 thousand cubic meters.The cost of the intervention is 7 million euros, 80% will be covered by the company SE.CO.SV.IM.as a non-responsible owner.“The project involves the excavation of the waste present and the land until reaching the layers suitable for the installation of the waterproofing package of the basin and the permanent safety measures”, explained D'Ercole again.Initially the territory affected by the state of emergency in the Sacco Valley was that of the municipalities of Colleferro, Segni and Gavignano in the province of Rome, and the municipalities of Paliano, Anagni, Ferentino, Sgurgola, Morolo and Supino, in the province of Frosinone.The area was subsequently extended to include a total area of ​​over 72 square km. Since then, the entire area has experienced a profound economic crisis, with the flight of numerous companies and the lack of new investments.