Sulcis - Iglesiente - Guspinese

For centuries this part of Sardinia lived almost entirely on mining and on processing the ores extracted. From the 1960s oil refining and petrochemicals were added at Sarroch and Macchiareddu. The perimeter takes in the industrial clusters of Portovesme (with the whole municipality of Portoscuso) and Sarroch, the industrial areas of Macchiareddu, San Gavino Monreale and Villacidro, and the abandoned mining areas.

In the mining areas the main problem is the great volume of ore-processing residues, rich in heavy metals: exposed to the weather for decades, often for centuries, they have spread contamination into soil and water, at concentrations above the already high natural background.

At Portovesme, the fill used for industrial yards holds metals at concentrations of the order of percentage units; PAHs, fluoride and hydrocarbons are also present. Topsoil outside the plants is contaminated almost only by heavy metals, through atmospheric fallout and wind transport from stockpiles of raw materials and industrial waste. At Sarroch hydrocarbons, BTEX, PAHs and organochlorines prevail; at Macchiareddu, the contaminants of the chlor-alkali and dichloroethane cycles.