Open-air landfills near the vines, 21 investigated in Alba

There were authentic open-air landfills in the restricted river belt of the Tanaro, a short distance from the historic center of Alba (Cuneo) and the wine-growing landscape protected by UNESCO. The "Tanaro" operation led to the execution of seven precautionary measures by the Norm of the Carabinieri company of Alba and by the Nipaaf of the Carabinieri forestry group of Cuneo, with the coordination of the Asti prosecutor's office. In the early hours of the morning of 27 October, around thirty soldiers intervened at the 'Pinot Gallizio' nomad camp in Alba and in other locations in the Cuneo area.

The investigation originated in 2024 and made it possible to identify an illicit supply chain headed, in various capacities, by 21 individuals with family ties, some of whom are owners of individual businesses or members of cooperatives formally active in scrap recovery. Shielded by the appearance of legality, the suspects had transformed the nomad camp into a real illegal logistics base: loads of special waste were introduced without any traceability, to then extract the noble metal fractions (copper, brass and iron). All the material without commercial value, highly polluting, was instead spilled or piled up close to the homes of the nomad camp and on the banks of the Tanaro.

Subsequent core drilling and soil sampling, with the technical support of Arpa Piemonte, certified a picture of profound pollution: soils completely devoid of waterproofing contained barrels corroded by oily substances, carcasses and mechanical parts that had not been reclaimed, exhausted lead batteries, burnt cables and waste electrical and electronic equipment exposed to the elements. Laboratory results have documented levels of toxic contamination up to 300 times higher than the legal threshold values, with alarming concentrations of heavy hydrocarbons, lead, zinc, antimony, cadmium and chromium.

21 subjects were referred for illegal waste management, illegal landfilling and defacement of natural beauty, of which 7 were subject to precautionary measures, with a ban on staying in the camp and a ban on business operations, preceded by the preventive seizure of the contaminated areas and seven trucks used in illegal transport.