Agrigento waste: 47 complaints: illicit turnover and toxic combustion

The Carabinieri of Agrigento in a burning waste dump

AGRIGENTO - Abandonment, illegal management, trafficking, receiving, and illegal burning of waste: 47 people reported and 2 vehicles seized. Carabinieri officers from the Agrigento Nature Crime Prevention Center have reported 47 individuals for abandonment, illegal management, trafficking, receiving, and illegal burning of waste. The activity stemmed from a targeted territorial control commissioned by the Agrigento Provincial Carabinieri Command under the direction of the Public Prosecutor's Office. An initial monitoring of the area was conducted by officers from the Agrigento Nature Crime Prevention Center with the support of the 9th Airborne Unit from Palermo. Using a helicopter, the areas of greatest operational interest were identified. Once georeferenced and photographed, they were notified to the judicial authorities, who ordered surveillance using video cameras.

Even special and hazardous waste such as containers and corrugated iron is abandoned

There have been countless incidents of abandonment and illegal disposal, ranging in severity. The usual throwing of bags or discarded bags has been observed, as have the dumping of waste materials from renovations or demolitions using heavy vehicles, which should have been sent to landfill. This unfairly profits the perpetrators. In the area under observation, special and hazardous waste, including asbestos containers and corrugated iron, has been knowingly dumped at all hours of the day and night, in violation of the provisions of the Consolidated Environmental Act. During one of the fires in the area, officers captured footage of the unloading and lighting of the materials, which were subsequently partially seized and confiscated, including a large number of archive folders containing tax and health records.

Carabinieri Corps for the protection of citizens' health

Other types of material were also set on fire to free the iron/copper from the plastics and then resold, resulting in significant environmental damage due to the quantities of dioxin released during combustion. The perpetrators of the crimes, clearly visible on camera, were identified and reported to the Agrigento Public Prosecutor's Office . The preliminary investigations judge, again at the request of the Agrigento Public Prosecutor's Office, ordered the precautionary seizure of two vehicles by members of the Carabinieri Nature Crime Center in Agrigento. Legislative Decree 116 of August 8, 2025, converted into Law No. 147 of October 3, 2025, in addition to raising the minimum and maximum penalties, also provides for the seizure of the vehicle and the suspension of the license from one to four months. The environmental monitoring activities promoted by the Carabinieri to protect public health encompass the entire scope of the Consolidated Environmental Act and include the cement cycle, water purification, atmospheric emissions, and soil protection. Due to the presumption of innocence, the position of the suspects has not been definitively established, and the subsequent trial on the merits will determine their actual liability.