Camugnano (Bologna), August 10, 2024 – Four months after the tragedy of the Bargi hydroelectric power plant in Camugnano (Bologna), the reintroduction of treated and purified water into the basin began yesterday. Approximately 50 thousand cubic meters have been previously filtered and purified thanks to the treatment plant built for this opportunity by Enel Green Power Italia.
“An important step towards returning to normality” of this territory. A result that is the fruit of the speed of the intervention and the maximum guarantee of water quality,” says Irene Priolo, acting president of the Region, with responsibility for the Environment and Civil Protection. The operation, on the site of the tragic accident that cost the lives of seven people and injured five others, will take approximately six to eight weeks. Let’s take a step back in the past few months.
“Right from the start,” continues Priolo, “the goal was to speed up operations to restore normality to the place, with an eye on the quality of the water.” From here, a process was started that authorized the construction of the water treatment and discharge plant, from the power plant to the lake. The analyses have already confirmed that the 137 parameters examined are within the norm, including all the chemical elements evaluated and a series of substances defined by Arpae as organic micropollutants, metals and substances such as naphthalene, styrene, boron, selenium, vanadium and nitrate.
While waiting for the site to be drained, making internal reconnaissance possible, a first inspection by the experts will be carried out on the surface in the next few days. The meeting between the latter will focus on the safety conditions in which the workers were working at the time of the disaster on April 9.
In the meantime, while the Arpae control plan will accompany the operation of reintroducing the water into the Suviana basin, the first control will also be carried out at the point of relief, having as a basis the 137 established parameters from the Regional Surface Water Monitoring Protocol. Enel Green Power Italia will be required to carry out analyses at discharge, according to parameters that will be verified every 15 days, and the outcome of these analyses will then have to be communicated to the Region and Arpae.