Italy - Keep Deadly Steelworks Closed
- by: Judith B.
- recipient: Corrado Passera, Minister of Economic Development, Italy
Taranto in Italy has one main source of employment, Europe’s largest steelworks. The Ilva steelworks have contaminated the area so much that livestock farming is impossible - meat is too poisoned to sell. Mussel farmers have gone out of business for the same reason.
The steelworks have poisoned the soil and the air, and the people are suffering. Lung cancer is 30% above the national average and it is claimed that at least 400 locals have died prematurely in the last 13 years as a direct result of pollution.
The problem is that, with alternative industries now being unfeasible, people still need jobs. The Italian government closed the steelworks but has reopened it following protests. This is a short-sighted solution. More people are likely to get sick and the area will remain impossible to farm until the Ilva steelworks are cleaned up.
Ask the Italian government to reclose the steelworks immediately and take action to support the people of Taranto until their land is clean.
We the undersigned ask that you reclose the Ilva steelworks as a matter of urgency. Levels of cancer in the area are at a level far above national average because of the pollution coming from the furnaces. Farming is now difficult if not impossible in the area because produce is too contaminated to sell. Tourism is out of the question – nobody is going to want to visit an area with such heavy pollution no matter how beautiful it might once have been.
People’s lives, health and long-term economic future are all threatened by the steelworks. Allowing them to reopen to provide temporary employment is short-sighted in the extreme. We ask that you form a practical plan to support the people of the area, with or without compensation from the steelworks’ owners, while the area is recovering from the environmental disaster caused by these furnaces.
Thank you for your attention.
