Serravalle Scrivia (former Ecolibarna)

From 1940 the area housed a complex for storing and treating mineral oils, fuels and lubricants (Gastaldi Oli Lubrificanti). At the end of the 1960s the first cases of air and water pollution appeared: waste discharged into the Negraro stream, which crosses the plant, and oily sludge seeping into the ground.

In 1983 the firm Ecolibarna took over, licensed to collect and dispose of special and toxic-harmful waste, liquid and solid, including waste brought in from outside. In 1984 and 1985 the Piedmont Region revoked the licence and ordered all operations to stop.

The first clean-up and securing of the materials on site started in 1986. After the site was listed as one of national interest in 2002, an impermeable plastic cut-off wall about 250 m long and 8–12 m deep (Lot 1) was built on the upgradient side, with a system to capture and store groundwater in the 'La Luminosa' area; north of the Negraro stream, structures and contaminated soil were removed.

A 2015 Programme Agreement lists the work still to be done, with a requirement of 12.24 million euro. Lot 2, which is to extend the wall until it isolates the whole of the most critical part of the plant, was put out to tender in 2018. The implementing body is the Province of Alessandria.