The Silent Giant and the Community Who Spoke Back: Lessons from Manfredonia

Manfredonia, a picturesque coastal city in Apulia, Italy, carries a heavy history beneath its scenic exterior. Once a hub for fishing and agriculture, the city’s identity was forcibly shifted in 1971 with the arrival of ANIC (Azienda Nazionale Idrogenazione Combustibili), a chemical company within the state-owned energy group ENI. In 1983, EniChem was established, incorporating ANIC as part of an industrial restructuring. It was a significant player in petrochemicals, plastics, and polymers and is now focusing on environmental remediation.

What was promised as "industrial progress" soon became what historians call a "continuous catastrophe". The most infamous chapter began on September 26, 1976, when an explosion at the plant released around 20 tons of toxic arsenic compounds into the air [1]. Based on a scientific journal from 1977, the explosion occurred because of a mechanical failure under high pressure. Instead of warning the public, the company and local authorities turned to denial, stating that the cloud was nothing more than water vapor [2]. This event was just the beginning of decades of toxic leaks (ammonia, sulfur dioxide, and nitrous gases) that were systematically silenced by industrial interests. 

Photos of EniChem along with press coverage. Courtesy Women of Manfredonia.

Between 1980 and 1988, the plant also received ministerial authorization to discharge sodium salts into the sea, which can cause localized ecological damage and so-called dead zones negatively impact marine ecosystems. Irregularities in waste storage were later uncovered. In response, environmental groups and the fishing community began mobilizing against the plant, as the sea, the territory’s primary economic and cultural resource, had been severely compromised. Environmental associations reported dolphins and sea turtles washing up on the beaches of Puglia.

In 1988, the city said “enough,” and an unprecedented wave of mobilization began. It was sparked by the repeated accidents at the plant, a mass die-off of dolphins linked to industrial discharges into the sea, ENI’s plan to build a waste incinerator in the site, and the arrival of the Deep Sea Carrier, the so-called “ship of poisons,” carrying toxic waste from Nigeria. On 24 September 1988, 15,000 people took to the streets, proclaiming an indefinite general strike. In the following days - remembered as the “four days of Manfredonia” - the protest escalated, with road and railway blockades and the storming of the Town Hall to oppose the arrival of the Deep Sea Carrier [3].

Manfredonia demonstrations against the Deep Sea Carrier, September 24, 1988.

Initially, workers and environmental activists stood united against the ship, but when the plant’s future was called into question, fears over job security created a deep rift. The conflict escalated, dividing the community and even families. Workers demanded modernization rather than closure, while environmentalists argued that continued operation was incompatible with the community’s survival.

For two years, Manfredonia was marked by permanent demonstrations, public assemblies, symbolic occupations, petitions and study seminars. The Manfredonia Citizens’ Movement was born. In this movement, women played a vital role, gathering in Piazza del Duomo to share knowledge about the petrochemical plant, recover information about its risks that had long been denied, and engage with institutions. A new form of knowledge emerged, a “University in the square” (Università  in piazza), produced collectively outside academia in direct response to local environmental and health crises.

Hundreds of women, many politically active for the first time, built a new sense of community. Through the Women’s Civic Movement, they developed a perspective in which “care” extended beyond the private sphere to encompass the entire territory, advancing a radical vision that placed health and life above any compromise.

In 1988, three thousand women brought their case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. They did not give up, despite years of waiting and silence, until in 1998 the Court recognized that the Italian state had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to respect for private and family life (ECHR, 1998). In this case, called Guerra and Others v. Italy, the Court considered that domestic remedies had been exhausted as the women had made reasonable attempts to obtain protection at the national level, yet the domestic legal system did not provide an effective remedy capable of securing access to essential information about industrial risks. The Court ultimately found a violation of Article 8 of the Convention due to the authorities’ failure to inform the applicants of relevant environmental hazards. It was an important acknowledgement, though it did not erase the weight of what had occurred.

Example of press coverage of the Manfredonia demonstrations (left). Women of Manfredonia at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (right).

In those same years, Nicola Lovecchio, an EniChem employee who became ill as a result of toxic exposure in the factory, launched an independent investigation with the support of his oncologist. His ongoing investigations led to the 1997 legal proceedings against the plant’s managers, revealing numerous worker deaths and severe arsenic contamination linked both to the 1976 accident and to ongoing emissions. The long and painful trial ended in 2007 with the acquittal of all defendants. The reasoning was that the illnesses were allegedly linked “to high shrimp consumption”. For many, it was not simply a verdict, but the bitter sense that the suffering of an entire community had gone unrecognized by justice.

In 2015, the Mayor of Manfredonia launched, together with the National Research Council (CNR) and the Local Health Authority (ASL), a new epidemiological study aimed at clarifying the long-term effects of industrial pollution on the health of the population. From this initiative emerged, between 2015 and 2017, the multidisciplinary and participatory project “Ambiente Salute Manfredonia” (Environment and Health Manfredonia), which brought together epidemiologists, historians, social scientists, and environmental physicists in a collaborative effort with the local community.

Thanks to the historian Giulia Malavasi - who gave space to the voices, documents, and private photographs of witnesses -  we now have a comprehensive account of the history of this community.

In 2017, the process concluded with a public assembly and led to the publication of a final report, scientific articles, and a book, demonstrating how history and science can work together to promote environmental justice.

In 2018, the Casa della Salute e dell’Ambiente (House of Health and Environment) was established as a civic space dedicated to participation, remediation, and social regeneration. In September 2025, an agreement was presented between the Municipality, AReSS, and the Casa della Salute to develop a participatory model of environmental monitoring and to establish an Epidemiological Observatory for the National Site of Environmental Interest (SIN) of Manfredonia.

In 2026, the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 explosion will be commemorated, with public initiatives dedicated to memory and the protection of public health.

On 9 February 2026, Program and Engagement Manager Jessica Besch had the honor of meeting with the local leaders keeping this struggle alive: two dedicated activists from the original women’s movement, Iolanda  D’Errico, and Rosa Porcu (also President of Casa della Salute), the President of ISDE for Foggia, Dr. Renato Sammarco, and sociologist Silvio Cavicchia.

Meeting with Manfredonia activists (copyright: Jessica Besch)

Silvio highlighted the diversity of the civic movement and its ability for collaboration and initiative developments that have been benefiting the city for decades. Manfredonia is only one among 42 National Sites of Interest (SIN) in Italy and is not an isolated case. With the newly established Casa della Salute e dell’Ambiente (House of Health and Environment), they want to  transform a history of “narrative injustice” into a future of participatory research and civic engagement. This community-driven space is the heartbeat of Manfredonia’s regeneration process and aims to educate the public on health implications that still persist. 

Iolanda and Rosa shared stories from the women’s movement and the pains their families had to endure. They showed pictures and documents which they preserved with care. With these artefacts, they keep alive the connection between what has been and what is still unfolding.

Walking with these two tireless activists through the remains of the petrochemical site was like traversing a history that has never truly ended. Remediation is painfully slow, using contested methods like soil vapour extraction and inadequately informing citizens about the process. The visit was made possible thanks to the Milan Hub Lead Ilaria Quotta, who is supporting to make the voices and history of Manfredonia heard outside of Italy.

For The Climate Reality Project Europe, Manfredonia is not just a historical case study; it is a mirror. It demonstrates that fossil fuel industries have long relied on silencing communities to protect their profits. According to the  European Environment Agency, there are 300,000 contaminated sites recorded across Europe. Managing and remediation processes cost an estimated 6 billion EUR per year. 

We believe that climate justice is impossible without community participation at the center of decision-making. Manfredonia teaches us that when communities are equipped with knowledge and tools, they don't just demand justice, they build it.

As we continue our work, we carry the torch of the Manfredonia Citizens’ Movement, fighting for a future free from toxic industries and rooted in the power of the collective voice.

As Silvio Cavicchia defines it, Manfredonia’s is an “epic” story. Not in a rhetorical sense, but because it spans generations, conflicts and courtrooms. It begins in a coastal community and reaches European courts thanks to women. It continues in local struggles and in practices of participatory research. It is the story of citizens who have transformed pain into rights, memory into action, and marginality into public voice. And for that very reason, it deserves to be told.

[1] Giulia Malavasi, Manfredonia. Storia di una catastrofe continuata. Milano: Jaca Book, (2018)

[2] Michele Boato, Manfredonia: l'imprevisto prevedibile, article p.26, (1977)

[3] G.Di Luzio, I fantasmi dell'EniChem: "Il comune messo a ferro e fuoco", La Repubblica, (29 September 1988)