Battipaglia. A night of raids and vandalism brought the municipal sewage treatment plant located in Tavernola to its knees. A gang of thieves, specialized in copper theft, stole 2 and a half quintals of the precious metal, equivalent to about 1,4 kilometers of cables.
The theft, which took place between Wednesday and Thursday, was not limited to the theft of the material: the criminals destroyed the premises, alarm systems, video surveillance cameras and the control panels of the sewage pumps, thus ensuring that they left no traces that could be useful to the investigators.
The discovery of the theft was made yesterday morning by technicians from Asis, the special company that manages the water service and purification in the municipal plant. The damage is considerable and is not limited to the value of the stolen goods, estimated at around 50 thousand euros, but also includes the costs for repairing the infrastructure and restoring the plant's operation.
The criminal activity has paralyzed the sewage treatment service, posing potential risks to the environment and public health. Authorities are working to identify those responsible, while the Municipality of Battipaglia and the ASIS (National Environmental Protection Agency) are coordinating to assess the necessary actions to reactivate the plant as quickly as possible.
Copper theft, unfortunately, is not an isolated phenomenon, but a plague that frequently affects public and private infrastructures, fueled by the black market of the metal. This episode underlines once again the urgency of adopting more effective security measures to protect common goods and fight this form of crime.
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It's really sad that things like this happen. The thieves have done a lot of damage and put the environment in danger. I hope the authorities can find the culprits as soon as possible, even if it's always difficult in these cases.