Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Site of National Interest (SIN), Massa, Carrara, Toscana, Italy

Massa and Carrara

The Apuan industrial zone between Massa and Carrara: former pesticide plants (Farmoplant, ex Agricoltura), ferro-alloys and barium compounds (Solvay). Soil and groundwater hold pesticides, chlorinated solvents, ammonia, hydrocarbons and metals.

Status
Remediation under way
Area
116 ha on land1
Activity
since 1942
Media
soil, groundwater
Kind of site
chemical works, agrochemicals, smelter, asbestos, landfill
  1. Area. About 116 hectares, with no sea area, after the 2013 redrawing. The 1999 perimeter covered 3,539 hectares (1,648 on land and 1,894 at sea); the excluded areas passed to the Tuscany Region.

Contaminants

Metals

Metalloids

Organic compounds

Other inorganics

Status

Remediation under way

Programme agreements for containment and remediation were signed in 2011, 2016 (also covering the former-SIN areas) and on 7 May 2018 (MASE fact sheet, 2021). No up-to-date official percentage of remediated area was found.

Story

Four areas are in the SIN today. The former Agricoltura plant (now Eni Rewind) did integrated chemistry, with plant-protection products and phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorinated pesticides. The former Farmoplant made sulphuric acid, nitric acid, ammonia and amines and later pesticides. The former Ferroleghe made ferro-alloys. The Solvay area made barium and its derivatives.

Soils contain heavy metals, chlorinated organics, pesticides and their metabolites, nitrogen compounds, hydrocarbons, PAHs and phenols. Groundwater contains metals, ammonia, PAHs, MTBE, BTEX, chlorinated solvents and chlorinated and nitrogen pesticides.

The 1999 perimeter was far larger (3,539 hectares of land and sea) and included other disused plants in the industrial zone; in 2013 it was cut back to the present four areas and the rest passed to the Region.

Timeline

  1. 1942Industrial activity begins, according to the SENTIERI documentation.
  2. 1998Law 426/1998 names Massa and Carrara a site of national interest.
  3. 1999First perimeter: 3,539 hectares (decree of 21 December).
  4. 2013Perimeter reduced to about 116 hectares (decree of 29 October).
  5. 2018New Programme Agreement for containment and remediation (7 May).

Health

SENTIERI, Sixth Report (2023; mortality 2013-2017, hospital admissions 2014-2018, regional reference): all-cause mortality above expected in both sexes, with excesses for all malignant tumours, circulatory diseases and digestive diseases. Among causes linked a priori to the site's exposures, excesses in both sexes for colorectal cancer, cancer of the liver and bile ducts, pleural mesothelioma, lymphohaematopoietic cancers (mainly leukaemia) and chronic lung disease. 61.1% of residents live in census tracts with high deprivation.

From the literature

Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.

Plants

Fungi

The rest are on the contaminant pages.

Nearby

Former SIN, La Spezia e Lerici, Liguria

Pitelli (La Spezia)

17 km

  • Lead
  • Copper
  • Cadmium
  • Chromium

Trial, Pisa, Toscana

Canale dei Navicelli, sedimenti di dragaggio

46 km

  • Petroleum hydrocarbons

Mycoremediation

SIN, Livorno, Collesalvetti, Toscana

Livorno

54 km

  • Petroleum hydrocarbons
  • BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes)
  • MTBE
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Phytoremediation

Former SIN, Sassuolo (Modena) e Scandiano (Reggio Emilia), Emilia-Romagna

Sassuolo-Scandiano ceramic district

80 km

  • Lead

Sources

  1. Scheda SIN Massa e Carrara (copia d'archivio), MASE, 2021
  2. Riferimenti normativi per i Siti di bonifica di Interesse Nazionale (agg. 31 dicembre 2025), ISPRA, 2025
  3. SENTIERI. Sesto Rapporto - Massa e Carrara (Epidemiol Prev 2023;47(1-2) Suppl 1), con allegato "Informazioni sui 46 siti studiati", Epidemiologia & Prevenzione / ISS, 2023

Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.