“The events of the last few days which have affected the Taranto steelworks will have to be the subject, once again, of attention by the Environment Commission of the Puglia Region”.
So the President of the Environment Commission Michele Mazzaranoa few days after the restart of Blast Furnace 1 at the Ionian plant.
“Observing the overall picture raises questions that we cannot and must not avoid to avoid making the same mistakes as in the past. In chronological order: the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights of 25 June says clear words on the management of the dispute: production must be blocked if health is not safe, and the prior assessment of the impact on health must constitute internal act in the procedures for issuing and reviewing the business authorization. To this we add the confirmation of the seizure of the hot area arrived a few days ago from the Court of Potenza and we still learn of new peaks of benzene in the industrial area of Taranto.
It is clear that, in a similar context, bringing Afo 1 back into operation at a level that will allow a significant increase in production generates considerable concern, especially in light of the fact that the Integrated Environmental Authorization has expired some time ago. .
We also record the reservations expressed, in the last few hours, by the investigating group of the Ministry of the Environment with reference to the request for renewal of the Integrated Environmental Authorization, presented by Adi.
We are faced with a very problematic and worrying scenario which requires us to bring the former Ilva dossier to the attention of the Environment Commission of the Puglia Region.”
