Genoa – The regasification terminal announced in Vado in 2026 generates the Savona’s protest against Giovanni Toti, president of the Liguria Region and extraordinary commissioner for infrastructure. The governor arrived in the city of Torretta for the signing of the renewal of the program agreement for the complex crisis area and waiting for him outside the headquarters of the Industrial Union he found a garrison of over one hundred people protesting against the possible arrival from Piombino of the regasification ship “Golar Tundra”.
Toti was greeted with insults and boos. “The regasifier will not be authorized by me – replied Toti on social media – The process involves the environmental impact assessment by the Ministry of the Environment, the Services Conference and the safety commission, with the Fire Brigade, the Port Authority and 53 bodies which will have to issue their respective permissions. Anyone who repeats the opposite fuels unfounded fears with the malice of a policy that wants to continue to block this country. I don’t believe that firefighters can be heroes one day and dangerous conspiracy theorists the next: let’s let the technical entities in charge do their job.”
The protest is only the latest in a series: two days ago the demonstrators met in the Municipality square on the occasion of an extraordinary council commission called to ask questions to Toti and Snam (who however did not show up), while on Sunday it was a real human chain was staged on the beach from Albissola Marina to Spotorno, with 16 thousand participants.
There are several aspects in the sights of the committees against the LNG terminal: the distance from the coast from Savona (2.8 kilometres, considered insufficient from a safety point of view), the release of chlorine into the sea during the regasification process (effects on the marine environment are feared), the fear of repercussions on tourism (due to the visual impact of the ship and for the possibility that part of the body of water is subject to interdictions).
Also Confindustriain recent days, has begun to distance itself from the project: “We do not express opposition a priori – explained the Savonese president of the industrialists, Angelo Berlangieri – but it is necessary to verify the opportunity, if not even the need, to move the new settlement more significantly away from the coast. And on land the project presents obvious critical issues in the transition to areas where there are industrial settlements and resettlements: the works on land must exploit abandoned industrial areas rather than impact on areas that are still productive or on virgin areas”. Toti had also replied to them that the The last word belongs to the Ministry of the Environment, asking not to “amplify unfounded fears”.
Openly opposing positions have also come from television personalities such as Fabio Fazio or sports figures such as Antonio Conte. And even the bishop of Savona, Calogero Marino, criticized the project: “The location is perplexing, on a coast so rich in precious beauties. Pope Francis in the encyclical Laudato si’ spoke of ecological conversion, which is a deeper concept of the transition. Energy from fossil fuels must be overcome.”
Toti in Savona for a meeting at the Industrial Union: the protest against the no regasifier
Mai: “He is available to review the project and in particular the route of the ground pipes”
“I am satisfied with the outcome of the majority meeting with President Toti requested by the League to explore the topic of the LNG terminal. The first good news, from the voice of Commissioner Toti, is that SNAM is available to review the project and in particular the route of the pipes on the ground”. Stefano Mai, group leader of the League in the Liguria Region, said this in a note.
“The revision could avoid the passage into agricultural territories currently affected by valuable crops, such as Granaccia vineyards and Valleggine plants, for which important recovery and valorisation work has recently been carried out – explains Mai – The second is that they could be important public works have been carried out in the territories concerned, for which a discussion has not yet been started, even if some have already requested them. We have therefore agreed to modify the majority agenda, prepared a few days ago, to make it even more useful to have a system and infrastructure increasingly shared by the whole territory”.
The meeting in Carcare
The technical meeting with the Municipality of Carcare regarding the project took place this afternoon. The discussion table involved representatives of the municipal administration, the technicians of Snam Fsru Italia and Rina, the coordination of the commissioner structure and the representatives of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea. Carcare, as an area directly affected by the work, was informed about aspects relating to environmental protection, development and safety in the district, as well as employment implications and compensatory interventions. During the meeting, the technical characteristics of the entire project were exposed, also highlighting the aspects linked to the protection of safety and the environment, in relation to both the sea and land sections.
“The technical comparison – said the coordinator of the commissioner structure Nicola Giancarlo Poggi, general director of the central organization management and of the environment and civil protection department of the Liguria Region – was overall positive, like those with the other Municipalities that have taken place to date, and mainly concerned the impact on the territory of the municipality of Load and then the route of the methane pipeline. Then the more complex topic of the offshore plant was also addressed. The Municipality’s technicians asked questions and also made suggestions which were implemented, as the questions were answered. The main issue that concerns the inland municipalities is linked to construction sites and the size of the roads: on this aspect it was explained how the works will be carried out”.
“The main fears – says Poggi – concern the proximity to the coast and the impact of the type of processing, which is ‘open loop’ rather than ‘closed cycle’: on this, Snam technicians have already explained the reasons for choosing the open cycle. Obviously the national path will also include health impact assessment.”
The meeting ended with the request, accepted, to evaluate new meetings in person. The next technical table is scheduled for Thursday 21 September with the Municipality of Cairo Montenotte.
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