Italian officials arrested for dumping of waste off Naples coast

Jan 28, 2011, 11:29 GMT

Rome - Several senior Italian officials were among 14 people arrested Friday in connection with the dumping of untreated waste in the sea near Naples.

Authorities suspect that 'for years' thousands of tons of solid waste collected from urban storage sites in Naples and the surrounding Campania region, were illegally dumped off the coast near the southern Italian port city, the ANSA news agency said.

Among those detained were the former deputy head of Italy's Civil Protection services, Marta di Gennaro, and the government's representative in Naples and a former commissioner in charge of rubbish removal in the city, Corrado Catenacci, it said.

Charges being investigated include fraud and crimes against the environment. Some 38 other people are also being investigated, reports said.

Over recent years Naples - Italy's third-largest city with a population of almost 1 million - has suffered several rubbish collection crises with local residents protesting, often violently, decisions by authorities to locate dumping grounds near their homes.

The situation has prompted European Union officials to criticise the Italian government for failing to create effective ways for dealing with the removal, sorting, recycling and disposal of refuse.

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