The pre-trial hearing held on 29 January concerning environmental and landscape damage and the theft of water at Lake Lod – a small, enchanting body of water beneath the Matterhorn in the municipality of Chamois, in Aosta Valley – ended in a victory for Legambiente. The environmental association was in fact admitted as a civil party in the part of the proceedings concerning the damage.
The preliminary hearing judge in Aosta acquitted the former president of the land improvement consortium and the operations manager. The alleged offences were theft of water, defacement of natural beauty spots and unauthorised work on a protected landscape asset.
The long affair, which quickly grew from a local issue into a symbol of the national battles to defend the environment – given the incredible beauty of the place and the equally incredible damage being inflicted – began in the spring of 2022, when the waters of the Ru de Novales (which flow into Lake Lod) were diverted elsewhere: the action caused a considerable drop in the water level and harmed the flora and fauna and the overall biological balance of the ecosystem.
