Vercelli: Traffic Police checks continue, two illegal mechanic workshops discovered

In recent days, personnel from the Judicial Police Team of the Vercelli Traffic Police Section have intensified administrative checks at public establishments that carry out activities related to road traffic. These checks are aimed at curb the phenomenon of road accidents arising from failure to comply with obligations relating to the correct maintenance of vehicles in circulation as well as environmental regulations relating to the disposal of hazardous waste.

The activity carried out revealed numerous violations of Legislative Decree 152/2006 regarding waste which led to the owners of two businesses being reported to the judicial authorities for the unauthorised management of hazardous waste.

Specifically, during an inspection at a Ghislarengo new and used car sales showroom it was found that, in addition to the commercial activity - regularly authorized by submitting the SCIA to the Municipality - the owner had prepared and put into operation a real mechanical workshop complete with all the equipment. In fact, when the officers arrived, it was ascertained that in the company headquarters there were cars being repaired and that in the yard the waste deriving from the mechanical workshop's activity was stored - used oils, out of use engines, air filters and oil filters, batteries, etc. - all waste considered “hazardous”, for which it is necessary record their tracking through the maintenance of specific registers and forms.

Failure to track waste as well as storing it without the relevant permits constitutes a conduct punishable by law; therefore, the owner of the car dealership, in addition to having incurred an administrative penalty, was also reported to the judicial authority for unauthorized waste management activity.

On the basis of another check, it was found that carrying out an illegal activity as a car repairer at the head of a company in San Germano Vercellese which, instead, was registered and authorised to carry out the sole activity of marketing used vehicles. When the agents arrived, an even more serious situation emerged than the previous one since in the same location, only a few years earlier, the commission of the same violation by the father of the current owner of the company with consequent seizure of all workshop equipment which, however, have continued to be used from the son, although subjected to administrative seizure.

Therefore, the father of the owner of the company was reported for failure to safeguard the seized material and the owner of the company was sanctioned for the unauthorized activity of the mechanical workshop with consequent reporting to the Chamber of Commerce for the adoption of the relevant measures.

Furthermore, a considerable quantity of stored materials were found in the workshop. without the proper registrations and hazardous waste – used oils, end-of-life engines, etc. – subjected to seizure, reason why the the owner of the illegal workshop was reported to the judicial authorities for the management activity of unauthorized hazardous waste.