Abstract
We present a case study on harmful industrial waste disposal practices that had been lasting more than twenty years in Italy, carrying non-exclusive negative consequences for the health and the environment. Discursive perspectives on institutional maintenance view it as a process of repair or reinforcement based on the production of supportive texts by incumbents. The findings of this study show that institutional maintenance can also be associated with a process of silence based on the marginalization of texts that problematize institutional arrangements.