For decades, the ominous chimney stacks of the Ilva plant in Taranto were synonymous with fear and the notion that without its poisonous by-product the choice of the local was to be without work.
But many people have pushed back, preferring to see the plant shut down, than to live with its lethal legacy.
The ground and air around the plant is heavily contaminated, and the cancer rate in the neigborhoods and areas most affected, is much higher than the national average, leaving no doubt as to what the consequences are of it being in such close proximity to a highly populated area.
Unfortunately, the people are very divided. Some see the departure or shuttering of the plant as the end of their work life, and that its demise would spell an uncertain and bleak future for the thousands of people who work there, and who without it, are certain to be unemployed forever in a country where unemployment has reached higher than 15% in some areas.
Just yesterday however, the hopes of the environmental activists and the prosecutors who had adopted their cause were shattered when a top court in Rome threw out the bid for the plant closure that had travelled through the court system for years.
In fact the court cited the fact that the ILVA steel plant in Taranto, does not operate in violation of the constitution, and that the plant can continue operating as usual.
Although ILVA has begun a mop up of the areas of concern in the past couple of years, the prosecutors who had brought the case for its closure to the courts argued that the toxic emissions of the smoke stacks were causing widespread and documented illness in the region.
In the meantime, the unions at ILVA hail the decision as positive, as hundreds of workers can now go back to work in the 'cold' operating area of the factory. Parts of the factory had been shut down during the court's examination of the case.
Partial Source: Sole24 ore 4.10.13
In fact the court cited the fact that the ILVA steel plant in Taranto, does not operate in violation of the constitution, and that the plant can continue operating as usual.
Although ILVA has begun a mop up of the areas of concern in the past couple of years, the prosecutors who had brought the case for its closure to the courts argued that the toxic emissions of the smoke stacks were causing widespread and documented illness in the region.
In the meantime, the unions at ILVA hail the decision as positive, as hundreds of workers can now go back to work in the 'cold' operating area of the factory. Parts of the factory had been shut down during the court's examination of the case.
Partial Source: Sole24 ore 4.10.13
No comments:
Post a Comment