The Carabinieri of Padua, together with their colleagues from the Forestry Department, carried out, at the disposal of the Euganean Prosecutor’s Office, a search decree against five people accused of corruption for acts contrary to official duties, embezzlement, unauthorized management of waste and combustion illegal waste disposal.
The investigations have brought to light indications of guilt against two Etra employees (unrelated to the disputed facts), in charge of waste collection and disposal. This waste, collected from homes and businesses, had to be taken to the Padua waste-to-energy plant to be incinerated.
According to the investigative hypothesis, still being examined by the judicial authorities, the two employees would have diverted the waste collection route on various occasions, using a company vehicle to collect disused material from three companies in the Upper Padua area. This material, mixed with other waste, was then incinerated without the knowledge of the waste-to-energy plant staff.
The investigations also revealed that the two employees would have received sums of money and other rewards from the three companies for each illegal waste collection carried out with the Etra truck. During the searches, in particular at two of the companies involved in the investigation, large quantities of “special” but non-hazardous waste were found, stored in violation of the regulations. Furthermore, in an area belonging to one of the two companies, the Carabinieri seized an illegal landfill, containing, among the various piled-up waste, also pallets of material probably made of asbestos.
