Eurallumina, managers acquitted and the red mud basin released from seizure

Listen to the audio version of the article

Judicial obstacles have been overcome. But for the relaunch of Portovesme’s Eurallumina, administrative and bureaucratic problems still need to be overcome. Specifically, these are the last three pieces necessary to give legs to the relaunch project which envisages investments of 300 million euros to reactivate the first link in the aluminum supply chain. Private resources that the Russian subsidiary intends to put on the plate to fix the plants and resume production.

In the balance for 14 years

The story is that which concerns Eurallumina, the company controlled by the Russian Rusal which produced alumina (raw material from which primary aluminum is obtained) from the refining of bauxite in the Southern Sardinia plant. Then, in March 2009, due to the high cost of the fuel oil necessary for the production of energy and steam, the plant stopped which, due to its production capacity of 1.07 million tons of alumina a year, was considered by experts to be one of the largest in Europe. In the same year, also the opening of an investigation which culminated in the seizure of the red mud basin of Portovesme used by the company and used for the storage of processing residues. And the seals in the adjacent areas affected by the release of water contaminated with red mud.

The absolution

In 2018, the process. And on May 5, 2023, the word ended the legal case with the acquittal of the managing director and the general manager, “because the fact does not exist”, from the accusation of environmental disaster and illicit waste trafficking. Not only that, the judges have also ordered the revocation of the seizure of the red mud basin.

Between bureaucracy and energy

In order for the project to relaunch the plant to start, despite the closure of the legal case, some issues related to the fate of the chemical plant for which the Russian group has spent more than 200 million euros have still to be resolved . This is the signing of the Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding, the program of commitments that the company must sign with the Region, Invitalia for program contracts, the ministries of Labour, Made in Italy and the environment, and the trade unions , in which commitments are made for the restart of the plant. In addition, the closure of the authorization procedure and the energy solution.

Immediately agreements and authorizations

«The release from seizure without prescriptions of the Eurallumina basin – Francesco Garau, regional secretary of Filctem, puts the goodness of the struggle put in place by the workers in these 14 years and the good work done when the plant was in operation at the center of the dispute. Now the ball is in the hands of the Region which will have to acknowledge that from an environmental point of view attention has always been high on the part of the workers and the trade unions. We await the favorable opinion of the Paur procedure”. The trade unionist also points out that “for weeks we have been pushing the Ministry of Enterprise to convene a meeting to update the Memorandum of Understanding which will guarantee the start of investments as well as the return to work of direct employees and contracts”.