Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Site of National Interest (SIN), Terni, Umbria, Italy

Terni - Papigno

The Terni steelworks with its slag landfills, the former electrochemical works at Papigno and other disused industrial areas. The main problem is metal pollution of groundwater; SENTIERI reports asbestos and PCBs.

Status
Under assessment
Area
650 ha on land1
Media
soil, groundwater, air
Kind of site
steel, chemical works, landfill
  1. Area. About 650 hectares in the municipality of Terni according to the 2021 MASE fact sheet, of which about 300 are woodland and farmland and about 150 the steelworks. The perimeter was redrawn by decree of 12 April 2024; the new area has not been verified.

Contaminants

Metals

Organic compounds

Fibres

Status

Under assessment

A programme agreement of 11 November 2015 covers completing the remediation of building «F» at the former Papigno works (MASE fact sheet, 2021). No up-to-date official percentage of characterised or remediated area was found.

Story

The SIN includes a large steelworks of about 150 hectares (Società Terni per l'Acciaio), the former Papigno works, the former Gruber and Centurini factories and other industrial areas, some disused, as well as a broad zone of woodland and farmland of about 300 hectares.

Within the perimeter there are several landfill bodies, some without adequate environmental safeguards. According to the Ministry the site mainly shows metal pollution of groundwater. The documentation gathered by SENTIERI lists asbestos and PCBs in soil and groundwater and dust in air.

The site has been a SIN since 2001. In 2024 the perimeter was redrawn under art. 17-bis of decree-law 152/2021, which provides for excluding areas that no longer meet the criteria.

Timeline

  1. 2001Decree 468/2001 adds Terni-Papigno to the SINs.
  2. 2002Perimeter set by decree of 8 July 2002.
  3. 2015Programme agreement for the remediation of building «F» at Papigno.
  4. 2024Perimeter redrawn by decree of 12 April 2024.

Health

SENTIERI, Sixth Report (2023; mortality 2013-2017, hospital admissions 2014-2018, regional reference): excess mortality from all malignant tumours and, in women, from circulatory and digestive diseases. Among causes linked a priori to the site's exposures, excesses in both sexes for lung cancer and bladder cancer and, in women, for breast cancer and kidney diseases. The authors advise caution in reading the data because of an excess of ill-defined causes.

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

SIN, Bussi sul Tirino, Bolognano (Pescara), Abruzzo

Bussi sul Tirino

104 km

  • Chlorinated solvents (TCE, PCE, chloroform)
  • Vinyl chloride
  • Mercury
  • Lead

SIN, Colleferro, Anagni, Ceccano, Frosinone e altri 15 comuni (Roma, Frosinone), Lazio

Sacco River Valley

106 km

  • Hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane)
  • Pesticides (mixed)
  • DDT and breakdown products
  • Chlorinated solvents (TCE, PCE, chloroform)

Phytoremediation

Former SIN, Bassa valle del Chienti (Macerata, Fermo), Marche

Lower Chienti river basin

113 km

  • Chlorinated solvents (TCE, PCE, chloroform)
  • BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes)
  • Petroleum hydrocarbons
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

SIN, Orbetello, Monte Argentario (Grosseto), Toscana

Orbetello - former Sitoco area

119 km

  • Arsenic
  • Lead
  • Copper
  • Cadmium

Sources

  1. Scheda SIN Terni - Papigno (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 - Terni-Papigno (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.