Eni_Refining_&_Marketing

Gela

We have created the foundations for our circular project at the Sicilian site.

Gela, the beginning of our sustainability challenge

If we wanted to pinpoint the location where our sustainable development challenge began, it would definitely be Gela, a Site of national priority since 2000. It has 795 hectares onshore, about 17 hectares of which are owned by Eni Rewind while about 55 hectares are managed on behalf of ISAF (Industria Siciliana Acido Fosforico). This is where we laid the foundations of our circular project by building a 5 MW photovoltaic plant , which was completed in 2012, on top of the permanent safety intervention at the former phosphogypsum landfill belonging to ISAF. The site's origins date back to 1960 when, following the discovery of oil in the Gela subsoil, the petrochemical plant was built. Between 1967 and 1968, ISAF, which was owned by Ente Minerario Siciliano (48%) with Anic (26%) and Montedison (26%), started up the complex fertiliser, sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid and acrylonitrile plants. In the 1970s the assets of cracker, high-density polyethylene and chlorine cycle and derivatives were added.

The setting changed dramatically in the early 1990s. Many production activities were stopped and, following the failed Enimont operation, the ISAF shares held by Montedison and Anic were transferred to Enichem (Syndial from 2003, now Eni Rewind), which became the majority shareholder with 52% of the share capital. Remediation of the site began in 1999 and is managed by Eni’s environmental company, which also operates on behalf of Versalis, Enimed and Gela Refinery at the same site. The interventions include emergency and permanent safety measures, the remediation and monitoring of the multi-company groundwater together with the management of the groundwater treatment plant, soil remediation and the demolition of plants, warehouses and buildings located on island 1 (former chlor-alkali plant), island 2 (former dichloroethane plant), island 6 (former Agricoltura), island 10 (former ethylene oxide plant), island 17 (former acrylonitrile plant) and island 9 ISAF.

Our activities in Gela

In Gela, Eni Rewind is the owner and holder of the remediation obligations for the former Anic areas and manages the ISAF environmental activities on island 9 (3 hectares) and at the former ISAF phosphogypsum landfill (52 hectares). The company started the soil remediation environmental works, authorised by decree, on islands 2, 6, 9 ISAF and 17 in 2018. The use of in situ Multi-phase extraction (MPE) technology and the permanent safety measures planned for island 1 were prioritised. The remediation of unsaturated soil on island 10 has already been completed. Eni Rewind is in charge of the groundwater remediation and water monitoring activities required by the approved project for all Eni companies present at the site. On the decommissioning front, Eni Rewind has completed the demolition of the Acrylonitrile plant (island 17) and will start work on the warehouses and buildings on island 6, the former Agricoltura site. Finally, Eni Rewind carried out the safety measures at the former phosphogypsum landfill in the ISAF areas and is continuing the decommissioning process by emptying and dismantling the former phosphoric acid plant, the decanter and the tank farm on island 9. This work began in 2016 and is one of the most complex remediation projects on the site.