Police hurt in clashes over Italy garbage dump

Five officers were hurt in clashes with protesters against plans for a huge garbage tip on the edge of an Italian town, police said yesterday, as the EU warned of legal action if Rome fails to resolve its waste problem.

Local authorities said two policemen and three carabinieri suffered slight injuries in a face-off lasting several hours with residents of Terzigno near Naples hurling stones and fireworks at them.

The police responded with tear gas and baton charges in the latest incidents in a week of protests that have seen local people block all access to the town’s existing waste dump.

The blockade has caused 2,400 tonnes of rubbish to pile up in the streets of Naples, the official responsible for the city’s hygiene, Paolo Giacomelli, said.

He appealed to citizens not to burn the waste, after dozens of piles and containers of garbage were set ablaze on Friday night, saying it increased the environ-mental and health hazard.

The new dump, the biggest in Europe, would be 800 metres from the edge of Terzigno in the Vesuvius National Park, some 135 square kilometres of outstanding natural beauty in the Bay of Naples.

The protected area of rare wildlife and plants includes Mount Vesuvius, best known for its volcanic eruption in 79 AD that destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The long-running waste issue has been blamed on a lack of local incinerators, and landfill sites controlled by the local mafia, the Camorra, some of which were used for the illegal dumping of toxic waste.