Coal spill in Fiume Santo, ‘never a complaint’

(ANSA) – SASSARI, OCTOBER 22 – “From 2003, when the coal unloading activity in the power plant began, until 2018, we have never received any complaints either from the Captaincy or from Ispra or other authorities”. Antonio Sanna, one of the six employees of the plant on trial on charges of having poured into sea, between 2000 and 2018, approximately 1,350 cubic meters of coal without any authorization. Sanna, accused together with his colleagues Daniele Derosas, Salvatore Fois, Franco Angioni, Ruggero Lai and Piero Gianfranco Soggia, all defended by the lawyers Luigi Conti and Giuseppe Conti, underwent the examination today in the courtroom, answering the questions of his lawyers, of the civil party lawyer Stefano Bionda, of the prosecutor Antonio Piras and of the judge Monia Adami. He thus described in great detail how the operations of unloading the coal from the ships to the conveyor belt which transferred the product to the plant’s bunker were carried out, how the dust containment system worked and how a semi-hermetic bucket and the bulkheads. All tools, explained the defendant, adopted to minimize possible losses of coal into the environment. “I have never witnessed incidents in which coal ended up in the sea – he clarified – Ispra has periodically carried out checks and has never detected any irregularities”. The presence of coal on the seabed in front of the pier was noticed by divers who were checking the conditions of the quay in 2017. The managers of the power plant informed the authorities, declaring that they would take steps to recover the coal. Subsequently, the order from the Captaincy arrived which imposed some requirements, such as the use of rafts to be positioned around coal ships. The coal was totally recovered from the seabed and cataloged by the Ministry of the Environment as special waste. The hearing was adjourned to February 18 to hear some defense texts. (HANDLE).