Environmental crime and corporate mis- compliance: A case study on the ILVA steel plant in Italy

The  case  of  the  ILVA  steel  plant  in  Italy  demonstrates  the  environmental,  health  and  economic  impacts associated  with  environmental  infringements  committed  by  industrial  companies. The  complexity  of  the situation,  the  different  issues  at  stake  and  the  large  set  of  actors  involved  make  the  ILVA  case  a particularly interesting scenario for the research on environmental crime. Since 1997 the ILVA steel plant in Taranto has been considered as “area at high risk of environmental crisis”; in the following years, the emergency situation in the territory of Taranto has become more and more evident, with serious consequences for health and environment. Surveys commissioned by the Court of  Taranto  as  well  as  studies  carried  out  by  public  bodies  and  NGOs  have  shown  heavy  pollution  of  air, soil, surface and ground waters in the neighboring areas of the steel plant. Also employment issues have played a relevant role in the ILVA case; indeed, the ILVA steel plant employs thousands of  people in Italy  and  the  consequences  of a  potential  closure  or  liquidation  of ILVA  would  be dramatic. Moreover, the reduction of the steel production would also have significant effects on the whole Italian industrial system. The  critical  situation  in  the  city  of Taranto  resulted  in  a  series  of complex  events  which  have  followed  in rapid  succession  since  2012  at  present;  among  others,  it  is  worth  to  recall  the  closure  of  blast  furnaces, ordered by the judicial authority; the adoption by the Government of the so called ‘Save ILVA Decree’; the decision  of  the  Constitutional  Court No.  85 of 2013;  the  recent  enactment of  Law Decree No.  1of 2015 dealing with the ILVA company and the city of Taranto. The  ILVA  case  clearly  reveals  that  the  fair  balance  between  the  right  to  health  and  the  protection  of environment,  on  the  one  hand,  the  right  to  work  and  production  needs,  on  the  other  one,  could  be  very difficult  to  achieve.  In  this  framework,  the  State  plays  an  essential  role  in  order  to  guarantee  national strategic   capabilities   and   jobs,   as   well   as   the   protection   of   fundamental   rights   enshrined   in   the Constitutions and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Journal/Publisher: EFFACE

Publication type: Study

Number of pages/Page range: 27

Language/s (content): English

Date of publication: 02-02-15

Personal data

Full name Floriana BIANCO

Current occupation Member

University/Institution University of Catania

Address Via Gallo, 24

Postal code 95124

Telephone 0039 095 230369

Email fbianco@lex.unict.it