Five Eni employees at the Viggiano plant in Basilicata placed under house arrest. The partner of Minister Guidi, who subsequently resigned, is also implicated in the investigation.
Five officials and employees of Eni's Viggiano oil centre, in the province of Potenza – where oil extracted in Val d'Agri is processed – have been placed under house arrest by the Carabinieri for environmental protection, as they are considered responsible, on various counts, for "organised activities for the illegal trafficking and disposal of waste".
The Carabinieri also served a residency ban order on a Basilicata regional official. The precautionary measures – issued by the preliminary investigating judge at the Court of Potenza as part of an investigation coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate – were carried out in the provinces of Potenza, Rome, Chieti, Genoa, Grosseto and Caltanissetta.
A total of 37 people are under investigation, and the prosecution has issued two seizure orders at the Viggiano oil centre, with possible repercussions for oil production, as well as several inspections to verify the disposal of waste produced at the facility, atmospheric emissions, dioxin levels and the presence of pollutants in the soil. As early as May 2015, the beach at San Basilio, along the Ionian coast in the province of Matera, had been inundated with black sludge of suspicious origin.
The investigation had come to light in February of last year with an initial anti-mafia "blitz". Since then, the lines of inquiry have multiplied. One of the central issues in the investigation is the correct classification of wastewater, on which the type of treatment required for proper disposal depends. The wastewater derives from the separation of crude oil from its aqueous component, plus all the substances used to extract it.
Investigators suspect that for years the classification, and the consequent disposal of the wastewater, was not carried out correctly, overlooking the presence of toxic elements and exposing not only workers but also the environment into which the "cleaned" water is discharged to the risk of contamination.
According to reports by Repubblica and Il Sole 24 Ore, among those under investigation is also Gianluca Gemelli, an entrepreneur and partner of Minister for Economic Development Federica Guidi, who is allegedly under investigation for the offence of illicit influence peddling because, by exploiting his cohabiting relationship with the minister, he had been promised and obtained the qualifications necessary to participate in tenders for work at the Tempa Rossa extraction plant, owned by Total, also in Basilicata.
UPDATE: FEDERICA GUIDI HAS RESIGNED
The WWF has filed a number of complaints with the competent authorities, calling for investigations into the succession of various problems and incidents at oil facilities in early 2015, and for clarity on the radiological status of the sludge and wastewater coming from the Val d'Agri oil centre, after learning of a radiological screening from the website of the municipality of Pisticci.