Sant'Antonio Abate - A slaughterhouse illegally discharged industrial wastewater contaminated with blood and urine directly into the Sarno River. This is what the Carabinieri of the Naples Environmental Protection Group discovered this morning, when they seized the "IN.CEB SUD srl" plant in Sant'Antonio Abate, in the province of Naples.
The operation is part of the "Rinascita Sarno" investigation, coordinated by the Torre Annunziata Public Prosecutor's Office, which has long been trying to identify and block the sources of pollution in Europe's most polluted river.
The bypass system to circumvent purification
The investigations, conducted by Carabinieri of the NOE, with the technical support of ARPA Campania, revealed a system designed to evade treatment costs. The company had built a bypass through which industrial wastewater was discharged directly into the public sewer system, without any prior treatment.
The contaminated water came from the manufacturing process and from runoff from the yards, laden with organic waste from slaughtered animals. This wastewater then reached the Sarno River through the sewers, further aggravating its pollution.
Toxic substances above legal limits
Laboratory analyses have documented the presence of numerous chemicals in concentrations well above permitted limits: ammoniacal nitrogen, ammonia, animal and vegetable fats, as well as organic residues. Toxicological tests have confirmed the high risk of the discharges for the river ecosystem.
The plant, built without planning or building permits, operated with ten employees and produced approximately 50 tons of carcasses per day, all without the required permits for discharge into surface water bodies.
A comprehensive survey of the Sarno basin
Today's seizure represents just the latest step in a broader and more structured investigation, still underway, aimed at identifying all sources of pollution in the Sarno River. The investigation is not limited to industrial wastewater, but also takes into account the impact of fecal discharges from several municipalities that still lack adequate sewer systems or are not connected to treatment plants.
The numbers from Operation "Rinascita Sarno" are significant: 325 inspections carried out by the Torre Annunziata Prosecutor's Office alone, 191 of which were negative, 61 seizures of businesses or production facilities, 204 people reported, and 2 arrests. Among the crimes charged is environmental pollution, for which a first-instance conviction was already issued, which was upheld on appeal.
The Preliminary Investigations Judge of the Torre Annunziata Court deemed the seizure of the company essential to prevent further damage to the environment and the Sarno River, already severely damaged by decades of illegal dumping.
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