The hot area of the plant ex Ilva of Taranto must be closed within 90 days. She established it there Court of Appeal of Milan, justifying the decision with the presence of asbestos and fine dust emissions above legal limits.
Former Ilva: Court of Appeals blocks move
In the decree, Judge Marianna Galioto established that the suspension will last until asbestos present in the plants it will not be completely removed and "the necessary measures will not be adopted" bring the emission of fine particles back within safety limits, with reference to the authorised production scenario of 6 million tonnes per year”.
The proceedings arose following a complaint filed before the Court of Appeal against Ilva spa in As and Acciaierie d'Italia by a group of parents from Taranto, who requested an injunction against the operation of the plant due to the failure to completely remove the asbestos, a requirement that disappeared from the 2025 Integrated Environmental Authorization (AIA) but was present in the previous one.
The former Ilva and the asbestos risk
“Health risks must be reduced "within the limits of safe acceptability," the judges wrote. Regarding asbestos, the judges noted "that the AIA 2025 does not actually contain any requirements regarding asbestos removal." Although 6780 kg of asbestos have already been disposed of in the plants, the Court further emphasizes, over 2000 kg remain in the facilities.
La prescription for total asbestos removal contained in the 2017 Prime Ministerial Decree, the provision states, "necessarily presupposes that the Public Administration has assessed asbestos as a substance hazardous to health and that there was a need for the total removal of asbestos, evidently considered the only adequate prescription to prevent the dispersion of dust and fibers." For this reason, the failure to provide "for the total removal of asbestos" in the 2025 AIA "ends up constituting the repeated extension prohibited” of a ruling by the European Court of Justice, "since it would be destined to remain indefinitely in its original location, as insulation inside the walls of the cowls".
The former Ilva and the risk of emissions
Another chapter concerns fine dust, always above the limits. “The PIC 2025 shows a persistent, worrying, incomplete knowledge of the emission sources, and a possibility of unjustified delay of important interventions recognized as necessary", writes the Court of Appeal, recalling how, in August last year, ministries and local authorities signed a document "which indicates an embryonic path towards the decarbonisation and production with electric furnaces, even by means of clauses to be inserted in a possible future rental contract", but "the prediction of decarbonisation presupposes the unsustainability of the current production system".
The AIA has a duration of twelve years, and in the absence of a binding link between decarbonization plans and the continuation of full-cycle operations, operations may continue without decarbonization for another twelve years. The Municipality, Province of Taranto, and the Puglia Region have not given a favorable opinion on the 2025 AIA due to the lack of a clear timeframe for decarbonization. Therefore, health risks must be reduced to within safe limits.
In summary: "The citizens' complaint must be rejected with regard to the application regarding the reduction of greenhouse gases. However, the citizens' complaint must be granted with regard to the injunction, both with regard to the application concerning asbestos and the application concerning fine particles, each having a decisive nature, even when considered individually, and subject to the incidental disapplication of the 2025 AIA."
"The Court – at the express and commendable request of the citizens – believes it must partially depart from the order given by the Tribunal to the opposing parties. And in fact, the acceptance of the citizens' requests, within the indicated terms, imposes the suspension of activity in the hot area outright of the establishment", conclude the Milanese judges.
