Sicily's Etnaland fun park shut down by police over illegal waste dumping
Prosecutors allege park owners would dump, burn and bury waste in nearby fields
Italian police have shut down the Etnaland fun park in Sicily after a years-long investigation into environmental crimes.
The park’s owners were burning and burying rubbish in a nearby field and dumping unfiltered, chemically-treated pool water into an artificial lake, Italian media reported.
Investigators first got wind of the illegal dumping in August 2022, when they discovered large pits and suspicious materials in an area around the park. That discovery triggered a fully fledged probe into the park and its director, Francesco Andrea Russello.
Earlier this week Catania’s coast guard raided the park and took full control of it, accusing the park and its owners of a massive illegal dumping conspiracy.
They say park employees would gather rubbish from around the park every afternoon, take it to a nearby tract of land owned by the park owner, Russello, and dump it there. At night, the dumped waste would be burned and buried.
Investigators say they discovered a nine-metre-high pit full of illegally burned waste.
They allege the park’s owners also pumped chlorinated water from the park’s various swimming pools straight into a nearby manmade lake, without filtering it.
Etnaland and Russello have now been charged with illegal dumping, burning and moving of waste, as well as crimes against the environment.
Etnaland is southern Italy’s largest amusement park, covering a massive 280,000 square metres of land on the slopes of Mount Etna. It is hugely popular with Maltese holidaymakers.
The park will remain closed for the time for the foreseeable future, Italian media reported.