Our environmental interventions in Porto Marghera

We are carrying out environmental interventions on soil and water and the demolition of disused plants.

The regeneration of a site with an industrial history dating back over a hundred years

The site of Porto Marghera, one of Europe’s largest, has an industrial history that dates back over a hundred years. Today it is involved a complex redevelopment process that aims to transform the industrial area into a more sustainable and diversified hub.

It was established in 1917 with the realisation of the infrastructure needed for the industrial development that later, in the 1920s, took place with the establishment of production activities related to the electricity, oil, metallurgical, chemical, mechanical, and shipbuilding sectors. Eni's presence in Porto Marghera has crossed several historical periods with the operations of Agip, Agip Petroli, and Enichem and its joint ventures. The earliest environmental activities, started by Enichem, date back to the 1990s. At present, as Eni Rewind, we are carrying out soil and groundwater remediation interventions on the approximately 255 hectares inherited from Montedison following the Enimont operation. We are also completing the demolition of the decommissioned plants and managing the post-construction monitoring of the areas already remediated or undergone safety measures and certified, in order to make them available for new development initiatives in line with the site's regeneration goals. We have so far spent 509 million euros on environmental interventions at the Porto Marghera site.

Venice – Porto Marghera: key elements

The sustainable relaunch of a site with an industrial history over a century long

Soil and groundwater remediation and decommissioning

We manage environmental interventions for soil and groundwater recovery and the demolition of decommissioned facilities on our property.

Technology at the service of sustainable remediation

In our environmental interventions we favour the application of in situ technologies.

Areas requalification

We make our remediated and certified areas available for new development and regeneration initiatives for the territory.

Venice - Porto Marghera at a glance

Location: Italy, Veneto

Start of the environmental interventions: 1995

Venice - Porto Marghera past and present

Site history.

Enichem sells its productive activities to Polimeri Europa

Enichem transferred its productive activities to Polimeri Europa, now Versalis, retaining the ownership of the areas and their associated remediation costs.

The environmental interventions begin

The first remediation interventions commenced with safety measures on the disused plants and the old landfills as well as with the start of environmental investigations.

Enichem acquires Montedison's production

Enichem, following the failed Enimont operation, became the owner of Montedison's assets.

Establishment of production activities

Between 1920 and 1928, 51 plants operating in the metallurgical, chemical, mechanical, shipbuilding, oil and electrical sectors were established in Marghera.

Signing of the Convention for building the port and industrial hub

Prime Minister Paolo Boselli, Mayor of Venice Filippo Grimani and Count Volpi of Misurata signed the agreement for the construction of the port and the establishment of the industries.

Our activities in Porto Marghera

The first environmental operations on the Porto Marghera site date back to the Nineties, with the safety interventions on the decommissioned plants and on the old landfills, the start of the early surveys on the matrices and the installation of a first network of piezometers to monitor the groundwater. In 2005, we submitted the final remediation Project for the areas belonging to us as well as to the other jointly owned companies, inclusive of safety measures, divided into sub-projects for the Old and New Petrochemical macro-areas, Former AM8, Island 46, Malcontenta C, Basin SR14 and the former Agricultura area sedimentation tank. All the single projects have been approved and the planned activities are either ongoing or concluded with testing and/or certified with completed remediation.

In 2018, in line with the Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the pact for the development of the city of Venice, signed by the Ministry of Environment and of Territory and Sea Protection and by the Venice Municipality, a proposal for a new methodological approach to remediation was shared with the ministry of the Environment to evaluate alternative solutions to those approved for the progressive release of areas in the New and Old Petrochemical macro-islands. In 2022, after the integrative characterisation of the unsaturated soils, we presented the authorities with the Definitive Conceptual Model (MCD), currently under preliminary investigation.

As regards to the groundwater, the final remediation Project comprises a water pumping system in the New and Old Petrochemical areas that conveys the drained waters to the designated groundwater treatment plant (GPT) and then on to the consortium’s physico-chemical and biological treatment plant. This drainage system is complementary to the confinement interventions (physical and hydraulic barrier) led by the interregional Superintendency for public works (formerly Water Magistrate in Venice). We are also engaged in completing the demolition of the plants that are no longer active.

Former AUSIDET landfill - Capping installation

Environmental recovery for areas requalification

In Porto Marghera, at the Old and New Petrochemical hub, we have made approximately 90 hectares available to third parties and other Eni companies. In the area of the former Ausidet landfill, which covers approximately 7 hectares and was closed and certified in 2016, we carried out an environmental recovery project involving the installation of a physical containment barrier and surface capping, certified in 2016 by the Metropolitan City of Venice. Today, the area hosts a 3.55 MWp photovoltaic park built by Plenitude and launched in 2024. Another plant, with a capacity of 2.75 MWp, was installed, also by Plenitude, in Lot 15, an area covering approximately 9 hectares within the petrochemical plant, where we carried out a Permanent safety measures intervention. Launched in 2025, it will produce energy, 70% of which will be employed to meet the needs of the companies operating on the industrial site. Moreover, Versalis will build a plant for the recycling of plastic in a portion of Lot 21, already compliant for reuse.

Eni Rewind and Ca’ Foscari together for a sustainable remediation

Since 2019, we have an active collaboration with the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice Foundation through an agreement for the study and development of resources to integrate sustainability and circular economy principles in environmental interventions. The collaboration is structured along two main research lines: ERA (Ecological Risk Assessment) and Sustainability. The first aims to develop guidelines for assessing the ecological risk of contaminated sites, while the second aims to create a tool for comparing possible remediation scenarios, through a quantitative assessment of sustainability and circularity. For Eni Rewind, these tools represent a hallmark of expertise and opportunities, including in markets outside of Eni.

Fusti Casagrande

Fusti Casagrande refers to the environmental intervention to remove 67 barrels containing residues contaminated by natural radionuclides originating from the decommissioning of the former Agricoltura phosphoric acid plant carried out between 2000 and 2001. The activities, authorised by decree of the Prefecture of Venice in 2014, involved the movement of the barrels within a tent structure as well as the extraction, sorting, characterisation of the materials, their packaging in new containers and subsequent shipment to authorised plants.

Status of the environmental process

All submitted projects were approved. To complete the interventions, we submitted a new, phased methodological approach, currently undergoing preliminary investigation.