Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Site of National Interest (SIN), Napoli, Campania, Italy

Naples East (Napoli Orientale)

The eastern industrial district of Naples, with oil depots and plants, workshops, small firms and a coastal strip with a disused power station and sewage works. Groundwater carries widespread chlorinated-solvent contamination; soils hold metals, hydrocarbons, PAHs and PCBs.

Status
Under assessment
Area
830 ha on land, 1,385 ha in water1
Media
soil, groundwater, sediment
Kind of site
oil, petrochemicals, port, power plant, chemical works
  1. Area. 2021 MASE fact sheet: about 830 hectares on land and 13.85 km² of sea. The perimeter was redrawn by decree of 20 December 2024; the new area has not been verified.

Contaminants

Metals

Organic compounds

Status

Under assessment

The Programme Agreement of 15 November 2007 has expired and in 2021 a new instrument to govern the available funds was being drawn up (MASE fact sheet, 2021). No up-to-date official percentage of characterised or remediated area was found.

Story

Industrial activity in eastern Naples began in the early twentieth century. The Ministry distinguishes four sub-areas: the oil district (petrochemical, engineering and transport firms); Gianturco, with manufacturing, wholesale trade and workshops; Pazzigno, with small businesses; and the coastal strip between the port and San Giovanni a Teduccio, where the Vigliena thermal power station and the San Giovanni sewage works both stand disused.

Surveys found metals (mercury, lead, zinc, beryllium, copper, chromium) and organic compounds (hydrocarbons, PAHs, PCBs) above legal thresholds in shallow and deep soil. Groundwater contamination is widespread and marked, due mainly to chlorinated aliphatic compounds; iron and manganese are high across the whole site.

The SIN was named by law 426/1998 and its perimeter set at the end of 1999. A Programme Agreement for containment and remediation was signed in 2007 and has since expired.

Timeline

  1. 1998Law 426/1998 names Napoli Orientale a site of national interest.
  2. 1999Perimeter set by order of the Mayor of Naples acting as Commissioner (29 December).
  3. 2007Programme Agreement for containment and remediation (15 November).
  4. 2024Perimeter redrawn by decree of 20 December 2024.

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

  • Medicago sativaAlfalfa, lucernePolychlorinated biphenylsPetroleum hydrocarbonsPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
  • Agrostis capillarisCommon bentLeadZincEvidence: field
  • Festuca rubraRed fescueLeadZincEvidence: field
  • Lolium perennePerennial ryegrassPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsPetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
  • Paulownia tomentosaPrincess tree, empress treeLeadPetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
  • Populus × canadensisCanadian poplar (P. deltoides × P. nigra)Chlorinated solvents (TCE, PCE, chloroform)ZincEvidence: field

Fungi

The rest are on the contaminant pages.

Nearby

SIN, Napoli, Campania

Bagnoli-Coroglio (Naples)

11 km

  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
  • Petroleum hydrocarbons
  • Polychlorinated biphenyls
  • Zinc

Phytoremediation

Former SIN, Costa vesuviana (Napoli), Campania

Vesuvian Coast areas

12 km

  • Asbestos
  • Mixed waste
  • Arsenic
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Former SIN, Napoli (quartiere Pianura), Pozzuoli, Campania

Pianura (Naples)

13 km

  • Mixed waste

SIN, Giugliano in Campania (Napoli), Campania

Giugliano wider area (Area vasta di Giugliano)

19 km

  • Mixed waste

Sources

  1. Scheda SIN Napoli Orientale (copia d'archivio), MASE, 2021
  2. Riferimenti normativi per i Siti di bonifica di Interesse Nazionale (agg. 31 dicembre 2025), ISPRA, 2025

Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.