Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Site of National Interest (SIN), Sesto San Giovanni (Milano), Lombardia, Italy

Sesto San Giovanni (former Falck steelworks)

The Falck steelworks and the Breda and Marelli factories occupied 255 hectares north of Milan for most of the twentieth century. Closed in 1995, they left soil with metals, PCBs and dioxins and groundwater with hexavalent chromium and chlorinated solvents; the former Falck area is to host the Città della salute e della ricerca hospital complex.

Status
Remediation under way
Area
255 ha on land1
Activity
1913–1995
People affected
128,706 (2019)2
Media
soil, groundwater
Kind of site
steel, landfill
  1. Area. 255 ha (ISPRA, June 2024), perimeter of the ministerial decree of 31 August 2001.
  2. People affected. Residents of the two site municipalities (Sesto San Giovanni and Cologno Monzese) at the 2019 census, according to SENTIERI.

Contaminants

Metals

Metalloids

Organic compounds

Other inorganics

Status

Remediation under way

Soil: 99% characterised, clean-up or containment project approved for 58%, procedure closed for 43%. Groundwater: characterised and with an approved project over 100% of the area, no procedure closed (ISPRA, June 2024).

Story

Industrial activity began in 1913. The site includes the plants of the Falck company, Breda and Marelli and an industrial waste landfill. The Vulcano works, which made pig iron and ferroalloys, closed in 1979; all activity ceased in 1995 and the steel plants were dismantled in 1996.

Heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins and organic compounds were found in soil. In groundwater: nitrates, total and hexavalent chromium, aluminium, iron, nickel, lead, toluene, hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents (chloroform, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene and others). A 2018 ARPA Lombardia report on groundwater in the former Falck area still records tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethane, dichloroethylene, hexavalent chromium, arsenic and lead.

Sesto San Giovanni has been a SIN since 2000. Some areas have been cleaned up and certified: in June 2024 the procedure was closed on 43% of the surface. The former Falck area, the largest part, is to host the Città della salute e della ricerca, which will bring together the National Cancer Institute and the Besta Neurological Institute; for this reason SENTIERI recommends repeating the monitoring of pollutants.

Timeline

  1. 1913Industrial activity begins.
  2. 1979The Vulcano works (pig iron and ferroalloys) closes.
  3. 1995All activity ceases.
  4. 1996The steel plants are dismantled; the first redevelopment projects begin.
  5. 2000Law 388/2000 adds Sesto San Giovanni to the Sites of National Interest.
  6. 2001Ministerial decree of 31 August: the SIN perimeter is set.
  7. 2018ARPA Lombardia report on the state of groundwater in the former Falck area.

Health

SENTIERI, Sixth Report (Sesto San Giovanni and Cologno Monzese; mortality 2013–2017, hospital admissions 2014–2018): all-cause and cardiovascular mortality below expected in both sexes; in men, excess mortality from lung cancer. Admissions in excess for breast cancer in women and bladder cancer in men, as in the previous report. Among young adults (20–29) an excess of admissions for lymphohaematopoietic cancers in males (12 cases, SHR 279; 90% CI 174–447). Congenital anomalies 2012–2018: 193 cases among 7,807 births, no excess. The report notes that the high population turnover after deindustrialisation may have led to risks being underestimated.

Remediation

  1. 2021soil washingClean-up of the soil of the former Falck areas earmarked for the Città della Salute e della Ricerca (about 20.5 ha) by on-site soil washing, under way according to the 2022-2027 regional remediation programme; the first building works started in May 2021. Some other areas of the SIN are already remediated and certified.
  2. 2021groundwater monitoringGroundwater monitoring during soil remediation and management of the diffuse contamination by chlorinated solvents and hexavalent chromium.

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

  • Cucurbita pepoZucchini, pumpkinPolychlorinated biphenylsDioxins and furansEvidence: field
  • Medicago sativaAlfalfa, lucernePolychlorinated biphenylsPetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
  • Paulownia tomentosaPrincess tree, empress treeLeadPetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
  • Populus × generosaHybrid poplar (P. trichocarpa × P. deltoides)Chlorinated solvents (TCE, PCE, chloroform)Polychlorinated biphenylsEvidence: field
  • Pteris vittataChinese brake fernArsenicEvidence: field
  • Agrostis capillarisCommon bentLeadEvidence: field

Fungi

The rest are on the contaminant pages.

Nearby

Former SIN, Milano, Lombardia

Milan-Bovisa (Gasometri area)

8 km

  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
  • BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes)
  • Cyanide
  • Lead

PhytoremediationMicrobial bioremediation

SIN, Pioltello e Rodano (Milano), Lombardia

Pioltello and Rodano (former SISAS plant)

10 km

  • Hexavalent chromium
  • Mercury
  • Cadmium
  • Lead

Italy, Seveso e Meda (Monza e Brianza), Lombardia

Seveso (ICMESA accident)

14 km

  • Dioxins and furans

Former SIN, Cerro al Lambro (Milano), località Cascina Gazzera, Lombardia

Cerro al Lambro

24 km

  • Petroleum hydrocarbons
  • Mixed waste

Sources

  1. Programma regionale di bonifica delle aree inquinate 2022-2027, Allegato 1: Siti di Interesse Nazionale, Regione Lombardia, 2022
  2. Siti contaminati di interesse nazionale (indicatore, dati a giugno 2024), ISPRA, 2024
  3. Riferimenti normativi per i SIN (aggiornamento 31 dicembre 2025), ISPRA, 2025
  4. SENTIERI. Sesto Rapporto (risultati Nord-Ovest e schede informative dei siti). Epidemiologia & Prevenzione 47(1-2) Suppl 1, Epidemiologia & Prevenzione / ISS, 2023

Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.