The Italian government is set to step in to make sure a UNESCO site in Sicily is protected from drilling operations.
On August 28 a Sicilian court gave Texan oil company Panther Oil permission to drill for gas in the Val di Noto, a part of southern Sicily dotted with Baroque masterpieces.
After a national outcry, Regional Governor Salvatore Cuffaro said later that day he would present a motion to the island's legislative assembly "to frame a law putting an end to the case".
So far there has been no such move, leading to renewed concern in Italy and abroad.
In response, Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said Monday that the Rome government stood ready to make sure Cuffaro keeps his promise.
"A statement of intent is fine but we want to see the law," the minister said.
Pecoraro Scanio said the government stood ready to use special powers to override Sicily's autonomy from Rome, stopping the "absurd" project and declaring the area an archaeological and environmental park.
The minister's Green Partry has vowed to use "all our energies to defend the Val di Noto's immense heritage by standing in front of the bulldozers if we have to".
A row over the Texans' plans to explore the area for gas has been running since June, when internationally famous crime writer Andrea Camilleri launched a campaign "to save the Val di Noto from the drills".
Making it a World Heritage Site in 2002, UNESCO said Noto and the seven other towns in its valley were "a testament to the exuberant genius of the art and architecture of the late Baroque".
Nestling between the provinces of Catania, Ragusa and Siracusa, the Val di Noto is a striking juxtaposition of rocky hills, Mediterranean vegetation, cultivated fields and some of the most beautiful churches and palazzi in the European Baroque.
The recently deceased Italian high-brow film director Michelangelo Antonioni shot part of his 1960 film L'Avventura in Noto.
The town's cathedral, considered the area's crowning jewel, was recently re-opened after an 11-year restoration following a 1996 collapse.
