Updated on 01/06/2024 – 12:39
The Catania Prosecutor’s Office notifies 33 notices to entrepreneurs, administrators and political representatives for the illicit management of waste. Among those under investigation, the former mayor of Palermo and regional managers.
The Catania Prosecutor’s Office has launched a vast investigation into the waste management system, involving the cities of Palermo and the Catania area. As many as 33 notices were served to entrepreneurs, administrators and politicians, highlighting a waste management system characterized by illegal practices and fraud.
Waste, the system
The investigation brought to light the existence of illegal and unauthorized plants and the “farce” of waste pre-treatment. Tyres, water heaters and even animal carcasses were sent from the Rap plants in Palermo to Catania, after only an apparent differentiation. This system allowed the entrepreneurs of Oikos, the giant managed by the Proto family of Motta Sant’Anastasia, to obtain huge profits by violating environmental laws.
The investigation, conducted by deputy prosecutors Raffaella Agata Vinciguerra and Angelo Brugaletta under the coordination of the deputy prosecutor Ignazio Fonzo, saw the involvement of the NOE military to carry out the investigations. Among those under investigation are also prefectural commissioners of the Etna landfills, the former mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando with two former councilors, numerous regional managers and the managers of the Oikos landfills as well as the top management of Rap, the public waste giant of Palermo.
The Catania front and the suspects
At the center of the investigation are the Tiritì and Valanghe d’Inverno landfills, managed by Oikos Spaattributable to the family of brothers Orazio and Domenico Proto. These mega landfills, with revenues in the millions, were managed through a series of illegitimate authorization measures, the result of collusion with public officials and fraudulent conduct.
The main suspects include Nunzia Pappalardopresident of the board of directors of Oikos and director of Omnia Engineering; Horace Protopartner and owner of Oikos and Omnia Engineering, considered the “de facto manager” of the Valanghe d’inverno and Tiritì landfills; Domenico Protopresident of the board of directors of Oikos; Giuseppe Puleo, administrative director of Oikos Spa; And Salvatore Maria Domenico Sudano, advisor to the Oikos board of directors. Other suspects are technical managers and consultants linked to landfill management.
The managers under investigation
Numerous regional managers are involved in the investigation, accused of having illegally managed, treated and disposed of hundreds of thousands of tons of waste. Among these are Gianfranco Cannova, Natale Zuccarello, Vincenzo Sansone, Salvatore Cocina, Antonino Rotella, Francesco Lombardo, Maurizio Pirillo and Sergio Gelardi.
The Palermo trend
Part of the investigation concerns the huge profits obtained in the illicit activity of waste management and treatment. The investigators dispute a chain of violations of the law that unites Palermo with Catania, through the Rapthe waste management giant of the Sicilian capital, up to the Oikos landfill.
In Palermo, waste collection was only formally differentiated, with the Bellolampo treatment plants proving ineffective. All of this would have happened in violation of environmental legislation and the requirements of The Hague.
Palermo, the names of the suspects
Among those under investigation in Palermo we find Giuseppe Norata, president of Rap until 2021, Pasquale Li Causi, general director of Rap since 2019; Pasquale Fradella, Rap plant area manager until 2020; Antonino Putrone, Rap manager from 2020 to 2021; Vincenzo Bonanno, management coordinator of the Bellolampo pool; Raimondo Burgio, manager of the Rap treatment plant; Domenico Proto, administrator of Oikos; Giuseppe Puleo, administrative director of Oikos; Giuseppe Lo Cicero, technical director of Oikos; Leoluca Orlando, former mayor of Palermo; Sergio Marino, municipal councilor for the environment; Giusto Catania, municipal councilor for the environment from 2019 to 2020; and Francesco Fiorino, manager of the Environment service of the Municipality of Palermo.
The investigation represents one of the most significant interventions against the illicit waste management system in Sicily, aiming to dismantle a network of connivance and fraud that has allowed the perpetuation of practices harmful to the environment and public health.
