Metalba di Longarone, the doubts of the committee on the doubling of production

The company wants to increase its smelting capacity from 65 to 120 tons of aluminum per day

LONGARONE. Increase the smelting capacity from 65 to 120 tons of aluminum per day at the Fortogna plant. This is the project launched by Metalba «to be able to guarantee the plant a more stable economic connotation in a scenario of market crisis and strong competition». A project that reopens the debate on the environmental effects of metallurgical production in the Belluno area.

In fact, greater production means greater fusion of material and therefore greater impact: to double production, the Environmental Impact Assessment and the Integrated Environmental Authorization issued by the Province will be needed. Even if there will be no structural interventions: in the documentation filed by Metalba in the Province it is emphasized that “the project does not foresee interventions on the production plants currently in place, but it is requested to authorize the use of the existing third well (not active) and the second cooling tower, in order to optimize the management of the castings ».

The procedure for the Environmental Impact Assessment and the Single Authorization Provision provides, in addition to the publication of the documentation on the Province website, a public meeting for the presentation of the project to the interested population. The appointment is set for Tuesday at 2.45 pm in the council room of the town hall of Longarone.

There will not be only Longaronese citizens, however: among the audience there will also be representatives of the RespiraFeltre committee, committed to the issue of air pollution and the presence of the Hydro foundry close to the city center. The Feltre committee has already made contact with that of Fortogna, with whom it intends to collaborate.

«For us on the committee this project to double production is worrying», explains spokesman Davide De Martini Bonan, «so we will be present at the meeting. We want to understand why a province with a strong tourist, environmental and agricultural value accepts that extensions of heavy industries are carried out and that in any case have repercussions on the environment, as far as they respect rules and limits. So we want to understand from the Municipality of Longarone and from the mayor, in his capacity as president of the Province, if there is a public will to proceed in this direction ».

One direction, underlines the spokesman for the environmental committee of Feltre, which has environmental repercussions while it will have few benefits in terms of employment. «A foundry is not a company that brings a lot of work, Metalba has less than forty employees and the doubling of production will hardly lead to any increase. Hydro itself has shown that the increase in production did not lead to an increase in manpower. For this reason, these are unacceptable choices for us and enlargements should not be favored ».