The European Court of Justice will decide on the merits of the class action requesting the closure of the former Ilva di Taranto, now Acciaierie d’Italia, due to polluting emissions. This was decided on 19 September by the section specialized in business matters of the Civil Court of Milan chaired by Angelo Mambriani, examining the application presented by ten citizens of Taranto, with the “Tarantini Parents” association, and by an 8-year-old boy struck – say the promoters of the class action – “by a very rare case of genetic mutation”. The proceeding on the class action is therefore suspended for now pending the ruling of the European Court based in Luxembourg.
Three issues to be clarified
The Milan judges, with an order, referred to the latter three questions concerning the interpretation of European legislation on polluting emissions from industrial plants in relation to Italian standards. The three questions referred to the Court are: the role of health damage assessment in the process of issuing and reviewing the Integrated Environmental Authorization (Aia); set of harmful substances that have to be considered for release and review in The Hague; timing of adaptation of the industrial activities carried out to the requirements of the integrated environmental authorization.
The judges ask the Luxembourg Court whether “in the presence of an industrial activity involving serious and significant dangers for the integrity of the environment and health“, a Member State such as Italy can, within the European regulatory framework, “defer the term granted to the operator “to comply with the Integrated Environmental Authorization (Aia), with environmental and health protection measures, for a” total duration of eleven years “, from 2012 to 2023.
2012 is the year of the seizure of the Taranto plants for environmental crimes, while 2023 is the deadline set for the completion of the Aia prescriptions. With the class action, the “Tarantini Parents” association, assisted by the lawyers, Maurizio Rizzo Striano and Ascanio Amenduni, requested the closure of the coke ovens and the interruption of the hot area until the provisions of the ” Integrated environmental authorization contained in the 2017 Dpcm.
Initiative launched a year ago by “Parents Tarantini”
The class action was launched in September last year. A first hearing at the Court of Milan (the Lombard capital because the former Ilva has its registered office here) was scheduled for December 2, then updated to March 17 last. The latter was regularly held. “We are satisfied with the outcome of the hearing in Milan – says Massimo Castellana of” Parents Tarantini “- because now it will be the European Court of Justice that will deal with the ex Ilva case and how negative its impact is on the environment as well as on life and the health of the people of Taranto but also of those who work in that factory ». “The counterpart, assisted by a large staff of lawyers, tried to dismantle our theses but did not succeed – notes Castellana -. In the March hearing, we supplemented our class action with further elements. The first is given by the modification of our Constitution. The constitutional law of last February has in fact modified articles 9 and 41 of the Charter, recognizing an express importance to the protection of the environment, starting with the part dedicated to the fundamental principles ». “In addition – continues Castellana – Article 41 now establishes that the economic initiative cannot be carried out in such a way as to damage health and the environment and that the law determines the appropriate programs and controls so that public and private economic activity can be addressed and coordinated for environmental purposes “.