Hundreds of women recited prayers and sang hymns during a religious demonstration Sunday in the Naples region over plans to open a second dump near a national park and tourist hot-spot, media reported.
The protesters, many clad in black t-shirts stating "No to the waste in Vesuvius National Park", peacefully occupied a sanctuary in Pompei, a city famous for its ancient ruins, located on the slopes of the Vesuvius volcano.
A project to open a second dump on land in Terzigno, a commune some 20 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of Naples, neighbouring Pompei and Boscoreale, where the protesters had come from, has been met with opposition from citizens.
The existing site was poorly organised, it posed health risks and emitted horrendous smells, protesters said, not forgetting the "primary school less than 300 metres from the dump!" another added.
Pompei's bishop, Carlo Liberati, gave his support to the demonstration: "the second dump in Terzigno must not open," he said.
The new dump will create "incalculable damage" to the archaeological site visited each year by six million tourists, said Pompei mayor Claudio D'Alessio. "It is terrible that the elderly and children are forced to breathe in this unbearable stench."
Waste disposal is a recurring problem in the Naples region, with the last episode in a long series coming on September 24, when hundreds of tonnes of waste piled up in Naples and citizens clashed with police over the issue.
In 2007, Naples came under the international spotlight after tens of thousands of tonnes of rotting rubbish accumulated in the city's streets.
In March, Europe's highest court slammed Italy for its failure to clean up rubbish during that crisis, causing "danger to human health and damage to the environment".
The long-running issue has been blamed on a lack of local incinerators, and landfill sites controlled by the local mafia, the Camorra, some of which were used for illegal dumping of toxic waste.
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