Crotone, the reclamation of one of the most polluted sites in Europe begins. But if there is wind, the site stops
400,000 tonnes of pollutants resulting from the zinc hydrometallurgical process must be disposed of, but if there is wind above 30 km/h (maybe even less), gusts are a problem
5' min read
Key points
5' min read
10.30 a.m. on a weekday at the end of summer in Crotone, clear skies and little wind. Over 30 km/h (but perhaps even less) gusts would be a problem here. On Via Leonardo da Vinci, between the sea and the mouth of the Esaro river, excavators are in action and the trucks for the reclamation of the landfill site serving the former Pertusola Sud are filling up with earth. Which looks like just dirt, but instead it is industrial waste, 400,000 tonnes of pollutants from the zinc hydrometallurgical process: zinc ferrites with heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic, manganese and germanium. Also cubilot, used in the past as an inert material for building roads. Even rare earths. The caissons are covered with a thick blue cloth.
The Integral Reclamation of the Crotone Sin
After at least 25 years of controversy and postponement - suspended projects, ministerial decrees, warnings and appeals to the Tar - Eni Rewind, the owner of the area, is carrying out the integral reclamation of one of the most polluted industrial sites in Europe, that of the landfill of the French Société Minière et Métallurgique de Penna Roya, which in the early 1900s produced electrolytic zinc, and that of Montecatini, which before becoming Enichem, in the city of Pythagoras, produced fertilisers and fertilisers for agriculture, with the Società Meridionale Ammonia. Specifically, "up to now, materials totalling around 11.3 thousand tonnes have been removed and transported to the 'D15' deposit, inside the site," says Eni Rewind, "of which 2.5 thousand tonnes have already been disposed of at the Cisma landfill in Sicily".
The wind stops the construction sites
.The problem is that if the wind rises above the threshold, and it happens often in that area, the construction site stops. The risk - of course - is to raise toxic particles in the air. Work is being carried out in the open air and instead of that, bulkheads are needed, or rather, a tensile structure, as required by the Paur, the single regional authorisation measure, which secures all the phases of the landfill, also establishing that it is the regional environment agency that monitors and controls operations. But despite a stipulated agreement and the deployment of five new units (there were 17 during the first phase of the operational project that began in 2019), no one inspects.
Characterisations after each collection
.Foggers keep the soil moist, piezometers monitor the water table, and workers exposed to pollutants work wearing overalls, masks and gloves. The waste is taken from the landfill at sea, stored in protection and safety bays, characterised (i.e. defined by type and hazardousness) and sent to authorised facilities.
The final destinations
."The non-hazardous waste will be delivered to contracted landfills in Sicily, Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto," adds Eni Rewind, "while the hazardous waste will be disposed of in Sweden at two landfills in the cities of Kumla and Sundsvall, owned by the company Fortum, for which the necessary cross-border notifications have been authorised, i.e. up to 45,000 tonnes, by July 2026. They will leave the port of Gioia Tauro, closed in containers, for Europe's largest hydrometallurgical recycling plant.
