This chapter provides a reassessment of the waste ‘crises’ in the so-called
Land of Fires in Italy and highlights the contribution of local social mobilizations in
advancing environmental justice and sustainability concerns. It is based on the longterm
collaboration between a social scientist and two activists, and it draws from a
dialogue of academic and activist knowledge in the tradition of Environmental Justice
organizations and scholarship. Our contention is that local communities and ecologies
of this area have borne the brunt of the socio-environmental costs of waste disposal and
industrial production. This translated into risks of contamination for the residents,
suffering threats to health and stigmatization. To this state of affairs, local grassroots
environmental movements answered by confederating into a regional coalition that
arranged on November 16, 2013, one of the biggest environmental justice
demonstrations in Italian history, spurring the intervention of the State via legislation
and resources. The coalition was also instrumental in the elaboration of the Pact for the
Land of Fires, a programmatic commitment to end illegal waste disposal that defined
the obligations for the institutional and civil society signatories. Finally, we show how
the experience of activists is systematized and coordinated today through the initiative
of the Civic Observers, an association of citizens that monitors environmental crimes
and conditions in cooperation with public officials.
Keywords: Cancer, Civic observers, Environmental justice, Grassroots
environmentalism, Hazardous waste, Organized crime, Waste management.
