As announced, there is a legal battle over the Piombino regasification terminal. The Tuscan municipality notified the appeal to the Lazio Tar against the authorization granted by the extraordinary commissioner Eugenio Giani, president of the Tuscany Region, for the construction of the regasification terminal in the port of Piombino. The appeal was prepared by the lawyer Michele Greco, appointed by the council led by the mayor Francesco Ferrari (Fdi). The recent start of construction sites by Snam, which is dealing with the installation of the Golar Tundra regasifier ship in the port – has required that the appeal also include a precautionary request for suspension. This will also lead to an acceleration of the timing of the judgment before the TAR. The Piombino regasification terminal is considered by the government to be a strategic project for solving the national energy emergency: it should be operational by next spring. The appeal requests the suspension of the work on considerations mainly focused on the protection of public health and safety.
The position of the Municipality
“As we had announced – declares the mayor Ferrari – we presented the appeal, which contains a long series of disputes on the authorization issued by the Commissioner focused mainly on the protection of public health and safety, as well as on the unsuitability of the Golar Tundra ship, from structural point of view, to operate safely in the port of Piombino”. «We consider the appeal a dutiful act – adds Ferrari – in order to delegate to the Judiciary the verification of the safety of this work. We are aware of the energy emergency and of the national interest nature of the new gas supply measures but this cannot be separated from the guarantees on the safety of the Piombino community. Furthermore, the recent start of construction sites has required that the appeal include a precautionary request for suspension which will also lead to an acceleration of the proceedings. We have faith in the Judiciary and we are convinced that we will soon resolve the matter”.
Snam at work among 129 prescriptions
Meanwhile, Snam’s work continues. With the authorization for the positioning of the regasification terminal in the port of Piombino (Livorno) «we received 129 prescriptions, from environmental mitigations to the limit of three years in the port, and it took us some time to study them. They could have an impact on costs and times, also because in some cases these are activities that we hadn’t foreseen in the project, but we aim to respect the fixed timetable». This was stated by Elio Ruggeri, managing director of Snam Fsru Italia, in an interview with Corriere Fiorentino. Ruggeri then confirmed that the preparatory works for the project have been started. «Our teams are already in action and both construction sites are open, both at the port and on land for the construction of the gas pipeline – he explains for the mooring of the vessel» which will come into operation in April-May. The CEO also announces the opening of one of our offices in Piombino and we are open to dialogue and explanations of every evolution of the project. We will study the best ways to do it: we are open and willing to discuss with the local area». Speaking then of the ‘Piombino memorandum’, or rather the list of preparatory works requested by the extraordinary commissioner and president of Tuscany Eugenio Giani, Ruggeri specifies that «the discussion on this is between the commissioner and the executive. As far as we are concerned, in all the works we carry out there is room for compensation with the Municipalities involved, even if obviously far from the amount mentioned in the memorandum. And therefore we are available for dialogue with the Municipality of Piombino ».