Priolo: Government Announces Appeal Against Stop Activity

Government move against the shutdown of the Isab plant in Priolo. On the instructions of the ministers for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, and for the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, the legislative offices of the two ministries have mandated the State Attorney's Office to file an immediate appeal against the order of the Syracuse gip of 31 July 2024, ordering the halt of production activity. The communication came after the Council of Ministers approved a series of measures, starting with the omnibus decree.

The measure concerns the Ias purification plant, which treats the civil effluents of two municipalities, Priolo and Melilli, and the sludge from the Syracuse industrial area, which has been under seizure since June 2022 as part of an investigation by the public prosecutor's office for environmental disaster. The Gip's decision in fact did not authorise the continuation of the activities of the Ias consortium purification plant, ordering the 'disapplication' of the decree of the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy of 12 September 2023 containing measures to balance the needs of continuity of production activities and the protection of the environment.

On the basis of the Gip's stop, the industries would no longer have been able to discharge waste into the plant, which, according to the experts appointed by the magistrates, pollutes. The same judge, then, last June had raised before the Constitutional Court the question of the constitutionality of one of the regulations of the 'save Isab', agreeing with the Syracuse Public Prosecutor's Office, namely that the 'save Isab/Ias' decrees violate the principles of balancing the needs of production activity and employment and the protection of workplace safety, health and the environment.