Sentence on 'environmental disaster' at ex-Ilva scrapped

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 13 - An appeals court in the Puglia city of Taranto on Friday annulled a sentence issued by a court of first instance against 37 defendants and three companies over the alleged environmental disaster and health-and-safety felonies caused by the ex-Ilva steelworks when it was owned by the Riva family.
    The appeals court ruled in favour of a request presented by defence attorneys to move the trial to another city in Puglia, Potenza.
    The motion to move the case was based on the fact that, as locals, the judges who issued the first sentence could be considered as parties affected by the alleged environmental disaster produced by the steel plant whose emissions have been linked to high cancer rates in the area.
    The court of first instance had convicted 26 plant managers as well as local politicians to a total of 270 years in jail and ordered the seizure of assets of the three companies managing the steelworks - Ilva spa, Riva fire and Riva Forni Elettrici - for a total value of 2.1 billion euros.
    Prosecution experts said "excess" death rates of 10%-15% caused at least 400 premature deaths from cardiovascular and other cancers among locals and workers.
    Child cancer rates were said to be even higher in the Taranto area.
    The blast furnace areas originally impounded in July 2012 were formally confiscated by the court along with the three companies Ilva spa, Riva fire and Riva Forni Elettrici. (ANSA).