The dispute over the industrial wastewater treatment plant in the ASI area of Nusco, in Irpinia, has reached a sensitive point. According to a local citizens' committee, officials from ASI and SIGE have not answered whether the plant will continue to treat wastewater brought in from outside — known in Italian as "conto terzi" — once the judicial seals are removed.

The case concerns odour emissions, the compliance of discharges, and the operation of the treatment plant serving the Nusco industrial area. The plant is currently under seizure, and its managers are working toward a request to lift the seals.

The October 28 meeting

The latest update comes from a Consulta meeting convened by the mayor of Nusco and held on October 28. Several invited bodies and organizations were absent, according to the committee's account reported by IrpiniaNews.

During that meeting, the committee says, SIGE and ASI stated that they had implemented the measures requested by the court and were aiming to return the plant to full operation by November 17, after which they would seek the lifting of the seizure.

The committee also reports that SIGE and ASI described the ARPAC analyses carried out so far as unusable. No full minutes of the meeting were available in the sources reviewed, so these positions are reported as statements attributed by the committee, not as independently verified technical findings.

ARPAC's role remains central

The regional environmental agency ARPAC is central to the technical verification. The Campania Region has said it is waiting for ARPAC's final report on the Nusco plant, with particular attention to odour emissions and discharge compliance.

That pending report is one reason for caution: until the final ARPAC assessment is available, there is no independent technical clarification of which analyses can be used and what the monitoring has shown.

The unresolved question: third-party waste

The most contested point is whether the plant will continue to process wastewater from third parties.

Trade unions have taken a public position in favour of stopping third-party processing at the Nusco industrial plant, a position also reflected in an audiovisual report on the dispute. A separate Irpinia press report described a regional stop to the treatment of "conto terzi" wastewater in connection with the restart of works.

Yet, according to the committee, when the question was put directly to ASI and SIGE during the October 28 Consulta — will "conto terzi" continue if the seals are lifted? — no answer was given.

The available sources therefore present positions that do not fully coincide: one press account refers to a regional stop on third-party waste, while the committee's account of the Consulta says the question of future activity received no response. The outcome has not been documented in the sources reviewed.

Works, funding and the November 17 target

Irpinia press coverage in September reported the start of works at the plant, with the stated goal of resolving the prosecutor's seizure within 60 days.

The Campania Region has said that about 5 million euros have already been allocated for the rehabilitation of treatment facilities in the ASI area. According to the committee's account, SIGE and ASI indicated November 17 as the expected date for a return to full functionality of the Nusco plant.

Whether that timetable will be met, and whether it will lead to the lifting of the seals, has not been documented in the sources acquired.

Committee calls for permanent monitoring

The committee says it has requested permanent monitoring stations to track emissions in air and water around the plant.

The request reflects a broader concern in the area: that one-off sampling is not enough to reassure residents about odours and discharge quality, and that continuous data should accompany any restart.

What is known and what is not yet known

What is known:

  • The Nusco industrial treatment plant is under judicial seizure, with works underway and a stated target of full operation by November 17.
  • The Campania Region is awaiting ARPAC's final report and says about 5 million euros have been financed for ASI-area plant rehabilitation.
  • Unions and press reports have raised the demand to stop third-party wastewater treatment at Nusco.

What is not yet known:

  • The conclusions of ARPAC's final report and the technical status of the analyses already performed.
  • The full record of the October 28 Consulta, beyond the committee's reported account.
  • Whether the request to lift the seizure will be granted and the seals removed.
  • Whether third-party wastewater treatment will resume, continue, or be stopped once the plant is fully operational.

For residents of Nusco and the surrounding Irpinia communities, those four points are the ones to watch. Until ARPAC's final assessment and a formal decision on the seizure are published, the committee's warning — that the seals could be lifted without a clear answer on third-party waste — remains an unresolved public question, not a confirmed outcome.