Eni's discharges into the sea in Porto Torres: The Grig (Italian Environmental Protection Agency) says the decision is "worrying for the environment."

Environmentalists are concerned about the decision of the Services Conference, convened by the Metropolitan City of Sassari, which authorizes Eni Rewind to discharge the wastewater treated during the reclamation processes in the industrial area directly into the waters of the Porto Torres industrial port , without having to use the consortium's purification plant run by the Sassari Provincial Industrial Consortium.

The CIPS (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) and the Municipality of Porto Torres voted against the plan, while ISPRA and ARPAS (Italian Environmental Protection Agency) supported it. "The rationale is purely economic," claims Stefano Deliperi, national president of the Legal Intervention Group (GrIG). "This is a rather worrying decision," he emphasizes, "because, first and foremost , the presence of the Site of National Interest (SIN) of the Porto Torres industrial areas, which extends over 4,622 hectares, 1,874 of which are on land and 2,748 at sea, requires certainty of not increasing the area's pollution levels, and the precautionary principle dictates the use of the best technologies to achieve maximum environmental protection."

The decision of the service conference paves the way for the issuance of the new Integrated Environmental Authorization (AIA), which amends and supplements the previous one (dated May 18, 2018). "Tens and tens of thousands of residents and workers in Sassari and Porto Torres deserve much more effective environmental cleanups," explains Deliperi. "In this regard, we recall the 'excess risks' for malignant tumors, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases certified by the VI Sentieri Report - National Epidemiological Study of Territories and Settlements Exposed to Pollution Risk."

Eni Rewind's strategic plan could also have repercussions on the workers of Asa-Asi servizi ambientale srl, the in-house company owned by CIPS that manages the consortium's sewage treatment plant.

"The problem is linked to the drop in the flow of thousands of cubic meters of wastewater to the treatment plant," observed Gianfranco Murtinu, territorial secretary of Filctem Cgil, "and this will impact ASA's billing, the company that will suffer the most from its primary source of income from Eni. With this awareness, ASA was preparing for other projects to contain the projected losses, a situation that concerns us for the well-being of the workers."

Some portions of the volume are used within the Eni Rewind company, after being monitored by external companies, to produce demineralized water for industrial and chemical uses and distributed to Eni subsidiaries Versalis and Matrìca.