Physicists have reported that the steel giant ArcelorMittal seeks to clean and wrap Italy's most polluting enterprise. The site in the Apulia region in southern Italy, formerly owned by Ilva, is at the center of a huge legal battle, during which experts cited by prosecutors blame that out of 11,550 people who died in the area over seven years, 7,500 people were killed by cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases and cancer associated with toxic emissions. AcelorMittal began leasing the plant with an obligation to buy it in November and will invest 2.4 billion euros to restore it, including 1.2 billion euros to limit pollution by 2024. ArcelorMittal was granted a period of legal integrity to bring the plant to environmental standards. But the Italian parliament canceled this in June, and on September 6, the company will lose its immunity.
ArcelorMittal Italia said that it might be necessary to add a towel, even though it had already begun to implement a cleaning plan that includes closing conveyor belts and installing new quenching towers.
Red and black dust from iron ore and coal parks has long been covered with balconies and playgrounds in the nearby Tamburi and Paulo VI neighborhoods, and locals close and schools close when the wind blows. Huge reserves about 20 meters high occupy an area the size of 56 football fields. Work on giant white coatings to cover them with a length of 480 meters, a width of 250 meters and a height of 80 meters is the most obvious sign of progress at the largest metallurgical plant in the European Union. Double structures, each made of 20,000 tons of steel, will be the largest such structures in the world. Henri-Pierre Orsini, responsible for implementing the plan, told AFP: "The goal is to ensure zero dust emissions."
The modernization is aimed at reducing dust, metals and dioxins with the help of new technologies for filtering fabrics and dust removal systems, as well as stopping the discharge of contaminated water.
The company conducts excursions for workers and their families to change their view of the plant and distance themselves from its dark past and graves in a cemetery across the road. As Taranto suffers from record unemployment, some believe that everything must be done to save the steel mill, which employs 12,000 people. But ArcelorMittal struggled to win hearts. In June, he temporarily laid off 1,400 workers due to sluggish market conditions, and prosecutors began an investigation in July after the worker was killed when a crane was blown up at sea. A fatal accident caused blows.
Although the company promises to reduce emissions of dioxins and dust to the limits of the EU, they cannot be completely eliminated. Families who have suffered from abnormal levels of tumors and respiratory infections in the vicinity of Taranto say the plant must be closed and the stretched area cleared.
