Citizens and municipalities of Tuscia against the Arlena di Castro (Vt) landfill:“We will win at the TAR”

The plant provides 60 thousand tons per year, of which 34 thousand in landfill, in an area rich in PDO, PGI products and Etruscan tombs.There is the 'no' from the Superintendency

ARLENA DI CASTRO (VT) – “It is forbidden to throw waste on the ground”.There is an old white sign, with red writing faded over the years, attached to a tree in the green area located on the outskirts of Arlena di Castro, a municipality of not even a thousand souls in the province of Viterbo.By a strange coincidence, it was posted in the same place where the entrance to the landfill is planned, which has already obtained two authorizations (out of the three necessary) from the Lazio Region.The project scares the territory, so much so that several citizens, businesses and municipalities of Tuscia have appealed to the TAR and are ready to fight until the last level of judgement.Arlena di Castro is located between Tuscania, Tessennano and Lake Bolsena, in a part of the territory rich in Etruscan necropolises and products of agricultural excellence, such as Canino Dop oil and Canino asparagus, recently included in the Indications register protected geographical areas (PGI) by the European Commission.“Here the construction of a 60 thousand tons per year plant is planned, of which 34 thousand will be stored in landfill, for a duration of 21 years, in a former pumice quarry which has also been rearranged in recent years,” he explained to Dire agency architect Franco Indaco, among the citizens who animated the appeal against the project.

TYPES OF AUTHORIZED WASTE

There are different types of waste that have been authorised:from pre-treated urban ones (which go under the code 191212) to the same, in particular that coming from the sea, beaches and lakes (200301), from plastic packaging produced by separate waste collection (150102) up to mixed materials always resulting from recycling activity.The project, presented by the Med Sea Litter company, involves four hectares of landfill and the construction of ancillary buildings for a covered area of ​​over one hectare.It is precisely the authorized codes that scare those who live and work here:“From the particulate matter that will be released into the atmosphere to the pollution of the aquifers, there are many factors that make us fear for our health and that of our children,” said the citizens, who have started a legal battle for this reason:“On May 16th, the Lazio Region gave the OK to the Environmental Impact Assessment and recently also to the Environmental Impact Authorization.We have appealed to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court against the Via as a Committee and together with us are the Municipalities of Tessennano, Tarquinia, Tuscania and a very important farmhouse called 'La Piantata'.Then the Province of Viterbo also joined,” added Indaco.The hearing is set for December 6th.

THE APPEAL TO THE TAR AND THE CONSTRAINT OF THE SUPERINTENDENCE

Various complaints raised by citizens in the appeal to the TAR.Firstly there are the negative opinions that emerged during the Services Conference.The heaviest is that of the Ministry of Culture - Archaeological Superintendence of Fine Arts and Landscape for the province of Viterbo and southern Etruria, of "binding relevance" for "the areas subject to landscape protection".
“In particular, the area in question is partly qualified as 'Agrarian Landscape of Continuity' and partly as 'Natural Landscape of Continuity' where, according to the Ptpr regulations, the construction of 'landfills, storage facilities' is not envisaged , for the recovery, treatment or disposal of waste.This is why the Superintendence considers the project 'not compatible with the territorial context of reference' and therefore expresses a 'negative opinion on its implementation'", explained architect Indaco.
But not only:“Even the distance of the systems from the town center and from sensitive functions, such as schools and retirement homes, which according to the applicant's documents is approximately 1.5 km, based on the geolocalised calculations that we have carried out with the cadastral plans is less than one thousand meters for part of the town and much less than 1500 meters for sensitive buildings.For the Regional Waste Management Plan, a distance equal to or less than one thousand meters from the built-up area and one thousand five hundred meters from sensitive buildings are among the exclusionary factors.An excluding factor can also be recognized in reference to the 'linear source' found along the Arroncino stream.This originates upstream of the landfill and flows downhill from the plant ending up in the 'Linare' aqueduct which for years has represented a source of water supply for the area and which can still constitute a resource in case of need", said Indaco .
Sante Bocci, who is still part of the city committee, then explained that recently "the Province approved the waste management plan outline, had the study prepared by the CNR and ISPRA and, having carried out all possible checks, declared that the entire territory of Arlena must be excluded from the possibility of receiving facilities such as landfills or waste treatment.Furthermore, in the outline plan, it was established that landfills and waste treatment plants must be at least three kilometers away from sensitive buildings.Now the Province has made this clear in the briefs attached to the appeal.We hope that it will be taken into account, given that it is up to the Province to identify suitable areas."

“THE RESOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF ARLENA AFTER 3 YEARS IN THE TRANSPARENCY SECTION”

Finally, citizens also contest the times and methods with which the Municipality of Castro approved the resolution that provides for the project:“The green light arrived in the midst of the Covid period, on 30 September 2020, just 14 days after the communication of the intention of the company concerned, received on 16 September 2020, as stated in the same resolution.The publication of the provision on the Arlena di Castro website in the 'Transparency' section took place three years later, on 12 July 2023, after the convocation of the City Council to discuss the proposal to revoke the same resolution presented by the minority councilors".
Finally, there is also worrying data that emerged from the latest Ecomafia 2023 Report published by Legambiente, according to which Lazio is the fourth Italian region in terms of number of fires in waste treatment plants, with a total of 145 episodes in the last few years. 10 years.A huge risk considering the dense vegetation that surrounds the Arlena di Castro area.