Video | The illegal waste sent back to Campania by Tunisia on fire.Fear of a toxic cloud

Six thousand tons of dangerous waste, just released, up in smoke in Serre in the Salerno area."Definitely a malicious act"

NAPLES – Six thousand tons of undifferentiated, non-disposable waste.The containers had ended up in Tunisia illegally, blocked at customs, and returned to the sender, in Campania.Yesterday they burned, where they were stored, in a military area of ​​Persano, in the municipality of Serre, in the province of Salerno.The circle has closed in a mephitic cloud.A diverted waste cycle.

In 2020 the waste left Salerno, thanks to an agreement between the Sra company, and a Tunisian company, Soreplast, for a price of 48 euros per ton.The first 70 containers with approximately 1,900 tons of waste were deposited in the Soreplast plant in Moureddine, and went up in smoke in a fire at the end of the year.Subsequent 212 containers were instead deposited in the port of Sousse, waiting to be sorted.Soreplast was actually a company owned by Mohamed Moncef Noureddin, who was closely linked to the regime of former president Ben Ali.

The Tunisian government launched an investigation which led to the arrest of several officials including the then Tunisian Environment Minister Mustapha Larou.Beya Ben Abdelbaki, the Tunisian consul in Naples, was also investigated.According to the investigation, the containers were classified with the European code of "waste produced by the mechanical treatment of municipal waste", but instead there was everything inside, including dangerous medical material.

In 2022 the waste came back.Ecoambiente of Salerno took care of the transport and storage costs, waiting to recover from the Sra.The Potenza prosecutor's office launched another investigation, which led to the arrest of 9 people for illegal waste trafficking and management, construction of an illegal landfill and fraud in public supplies.

The waste was released just yesterday.The fire was defined as "clearly arson, an act of a criminal hand to which the competent bodies will have to give a face and an identity" by the vice-president of Campania Fulvio Bonavitacola.

The extinguishing operations continued all night.In Serre, Arpac technicians are verifying the toxicity of the cloud.The municipality of Eboli has issued an ordinance to recommend that residents of the area stay at home and keep their windows closed.

ECOBALLE PERSANO FIRE, MUSCARÀ:“IMMEDIATELY INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION“

“It is unacceptable that, despite long legal and investigative battles, our territory continues to be the scene of similar events, without an adequate response from the competent authorities.We urgently call for a thorough and independent investigation to clarify what happened and to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again.The protection of the environment and citizens' health must return to the center of political priorities."Thus Marì Muscarà, regional councilor of Campania (mixed group) on the fire that yesterday evening affected a military area in Persano, a hamlet of the Municipality of Serre (Salerno), where approximately 60 thousand tons of waste are stored, including those coming from from Tunisia.“The fire that occurred inside a military structure – continues the councilor – is a cause for great concern, especially considering that the Campania region has a sad history of fires that erase the traces of environmental crimes. We are talking about 7,900 tonnes of non-reusable waste, distributed in 213 containers, which were brought back to Italy from Tunisia in May 2022 and deposited 'temporarily' in a Ministry of Defense facility in Persano, in the municipality of Serre, a location known for its natural oasis, but we keep the waste.Initially, it was expected that this waste would remain in Persano for up to six months.However, more than three years later, the situation not only has not been resolved, but suffered a tragic epilogue with a fire that destroyed the stored waste. This episode raises serious doubts about the management and safety of these dangerous materials, as well as underlining the ineffectiveness of the environmental control and protection measures implemented.Irony of fate – continues Muscarà – the Land of Fires ended up solving the Tunisian waste problem, but in a way that represents a defeat for legality and environmental protection. This not only concerns environmental protection, but has direct implications on public health and the local economy, putting the entire agri-food supply chain in the area at risk.“.

ROGO ECOBALLE PERSANO, TOMMASETTI (LEAGUE):“DISASTA ANNOUNCED”

“Solidarity with the populations affected by this very serious episode“.This was expressed by Aurelio Tommasetti, regional councilor of the League's Campania, in light of the fire that affected 60 thousand tons of ecobales stored in Persano (Salerno), creating a serious environmental alarm.The Serre site was chosen to accommodate waste from Tunisia.“From the first moment I have followed, also presenting numerous complaints, this sad story which is now enriched with an even more dramatic chapter – underlines Tommasetti – I am very worried about the possible consequences of this fire, among other things in an area already tormented over the years. We are witnessing scenes from Land of Fires. We reach this point after having lost over two years for disposal and here the political responsibilities at every level, from the Province of Salerno to the Campania Region, are evident".The regional councilor retraces the various stages:“The waste produced in the Salerno area was sent in containers to Tunisia and then, after more than a year, sent back to Italy at the request of the local authorities as they were deemed harmful.Another odyssey began in April 2022 when temporary storage was established at the Persano barracks.Then three ordinances, two by the then president of the Province, Michele Strianese, and one signed by his successor Franco Alfieri, which did not resolve the problem. The matter also ended up at the center of an investigation involving officials from the Campania Region. Now, when it seemed that the situation could be resolved, this huge fire is a real blow to an area treated like a landfill."Tommasetti insists:“I wonder if anyone will at least take responsibility for an announced disaster, the result of bad choices and too slow bureaucracy. In the meantime, I remain alongside the citizens, innocent victims, and I thank the firefighters for the enormous effort they put in in an attempt to limit the damage."

ROGO ECOBALLE PERSANO, IANNONE (FDI):“BICAMERAL COMMISSION OPENS INVESTIGATION“

“The bicameral commission of inquiry into the waste cycle must acquire every element on the Persano fire, it must take an interest in it again because the epilogue follows criminal events that have taken place since 2020.I believe that the Campania Region has very heavy responsibilities leading up to the disaster in a magnificent naturalistic oasis which was incredibly chosen as a rubbish dump. I have been following these events since the last legislature and I found the hearing of the Regional Councilor Bonavitacola who seemed like a Swedish tourist in the face of the events that led to the kidnapping and arrests in Tunisia disconcerting.Now the Campania Region must also answer for the fire that occurred just at the end of the investigation and a few days after the release of what had been lying in Persano since 2022.The damage caused to the population of Serre and Piana del Sele is enormous."This was declared by the senator of the Brothers of Italy, Antonio Iannone, parliamentarian of the Salerno constituency.