Five years after the first instance sentence, the appeal process opens on the intentional pollution in the soil, subsoil and the body of water in front of the Gulf of Asinara , in the area where the Fiume Santo thermoelectric power plant is located, in territory of Sassari, at the time of the events owned by E.On Produzione Spa.
The Court of Appeal, at the request of the prosecutor Enrica Angioni, calls to trial Marco Bertolino, 56 years old, and Salvatore Signoriello, 71 years old, respectively former director of the hydroelectric power plant and former CEO of E.On, both acquitted at first instance with sentence of 20 April 2018, issued by the preliminary hearing judge of the Court of Sassari, Rita Serra.
According to the prosecution, "by mutual agreement and with a single purpose" they had not reported continuous fuel oil spills of which they had been aware for at least two years. An accident also occurred: a fifty thousand liter tank had detached from the bottom, causing continuous leaks of heavy hydrocarbons. The head of the Bertolino plant had chosen the shortened procedure. The Prosecutor's Office had requested two years' imprisonment for him.
He was acquitted of the charge because the act did not constitute a crime. For Signoriello the preliminary hearing judge had decided there was no place to proceed. In total there were 5 defendants in the criminal proceedings regarding environmental pollution found in 2015 in Fiume Santo. Civil parties are the Ministry of the Environment, Municipality of Porto Torres, WWF Italy and the Committee to protect the Gulf of Asinara, represented by the lawyers: Francesco Caput, Fabrizio Bionda, Gianmichele Sideri and Pina Zappetto. The hearing is set for November 7th.
