The workers killed in the Casteldaccia massacre should not have been there. Because the contract, or rather the subcontract, did not include work inside the sewers. They were therefore not allowed to go down into the sewer system and the wastewater lifting system. They came down because a probe got stuck. But then the obstruction collapsed. And so the sewage poured into the tank, while the gas hit the team. And so Epifanio Alsazia and the employees Giuseppe Miraglia, Roberto Raneri and Ignazio Giordano died. The fifth worker, Giuseppe La Barbera, was instead a temporary worker at Amap. But questions still remain on the table. Why did the Amap technician authorize the workers to work inside the plant? Why weren’t they wearing protection? Is it true, as the union says, that at least two of the victims had not attended safety courses?
The cap
Four of the victims were employees of the Quadrifoglio Group. The contract with Amap, the municipal water network between Palermo and the province, provided for the cleaning of five clogged manholes from the end of April. Works director Gaetano Rotolo explained that the team had found a problem. The probe connected to the vacuum truck was unable to enter the pipeline. This is why the workers entered the structure. The person responsible writes today Corriere della Sera, gave them the okay. Even if they were without masks and without the gas alert, which detects the presence of hydrogen sulphide. Some went down into the first room and attempted to unblock the probe. However, the “plug” blocking the pipe suddenly blew. Three workers fell into the basin below and were knocked unconscious. The three who came down to help them felt ill: two died. Another is dying at the Palermo Polyclinic.
The tender
The tender took place on November 4, 2022. Amap explains Daily fact, requested «emergency work and ordinary and scheduled maintenance to be carried out on the sewerage networks in the municipalities within the province of Palermo». And it assigned the third North-East lot to Tek Infrastrutture Srl of San Cipirello in the province of Palermo, thanks to a reduction of almost 20%. Tek had to carry out the sewerage unblocking with the aid of a vacuum truck along the SS 113 at the height of the Vini Corvo sewerage lifting plant”. Total amount of «1 million euros, of which 100 thousand euros for self-cleaning services and 30 thousand euros presumably estimated for charges for the implementation of safety plans not subject to reduction and for the duration of 24 months from the date of signing of the procurement contract”.
Subcontracting
Tek then subcontracted the work to Quadrifoglio srl. Who had participated in the same race, losing it. Quadrifoglio has been operating for twenty years and has also acquired two smaller companies. Only one of the four subcontracted lots was awarded because for others the offer was judged to be technically anomalous. The company formally employs 16 employees. Twelve are workers, of which 7 are specialized. Only one, with qualification from 2017, is capable of treating asbestos. Unions say that it often happens that they take advantage of employee certifications, perhaps through the acquisition of a company that hired them.
