A private plot of land measuring 15,000 square metres has been seized by the Carabinieri’s Noe unit in Sassari after the discovery of an illegal waste dump, including sheets containing asbestos. The site is in Serra Longa, in the countryside around Sorso, a short distance from the Platamona pine forest: an area comparable in size to two football pitches.
The officers discovered the dump during inspections aimed at combating environmental abuses and protecting the land. Special waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous, was piled up haphazardly on the plot. In some places, the debris and discarded materials had formed heaps described as veritable mountains of rubble.
The materials found included car wrecks, discarded electrical and electronic equipment, tyres, furniture and used clothing. Large quantities of iron, paper, cardboard, plastic and glass were also reported, along with rubble and debris from demolition and renovation work.
Particular attention is being paid to corrugated sheets containing asbestos, a material that requires specific precautions for removal and disposal. The presence of these sheets adds to that of concrete, crushed bricks and black sacks, piled together with the other waste at an uncontrolled dump.
The site lies in an area subject to a landscape protection order because of its proximity to the Platamona pine forest. The area, described as environmentally valuable, has been turned, at least in part, into a dumping ground for materials of various kinds, from metal scrap to construction waste and discarded household appliances.
According to reports, the land had been rented to a Roma family from the former Roma camp in Piandanna, in Sassari. However, the fact that the land was rented does not establish who actually brought and abandoned the waste. Determining responsibility is one of the issues being examined in the ongoing investigation.
The case is now being examined by the judicial authorities. Investigators are reconstructing how the land may have been used and where the deposited materials came from. The operation is part of the Carabinieri’s efforts to combat environmental offences in the Sassari area.