Carabinieri at ex ILVA steelworks in emissions probe

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 10 - Carabinieri police have been to the former ILVA steelworks in the southern Puglia port city of Taranto to obtain documents relating to a probe into emissions at the site, the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reported on Wednesday.
    Carabinieri from the NOE ecological operational nucleus reportedly visited the plant now operated by Acciaierie d'Italia on Tuesday on the orders of prosecutors Mariano Buccoliero and Francesco Ciardo as part of an investigation into alleged environmental pollution and dangerous disposal of materials at the site.
    The documents pertain to emissions particularly in the coking plant and with respect to benzene, according to the newspaper report.
    In recent months the regional environmental protection agency Arpa Puglia has reported several benzene emissions peaks, albeit below the legal threshold, leading Taranto Mayor Rinaldo Melucci on May 22 to order the cessation of activities in the hot working area in the absence of action to reduce emissions.
    The Lecce Regional Administrative Court subsequently suspended the order on appeal from Acciaierie d'Italia and Ilva in Special Administration pending a ruling by the European Court of Justice on the issue of health damage related to benzene pollution levels.
    The Taranto plant was once the largest steelworks in Europe and still southern Italy's biggest single employer, despite downscaling over several years.
    It has also been undergoing an environmental cleanup to cut its noxious emissions due to high pollution-linked cancer rates in the Puglia city.
    However, serious concerns remain.
    Meanwhile, earlier this year parliament approved a decree ensuring production at the plant, which is controlled jointly by the Italian state through the economy ministry's National Agency for Inward Investment and Economic Development (Invitalia) and global steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal.
    On Monday the government offered to raise its share capital in Acciaierie d'Italia from the current 38% to 66% through Invitalia.
    On Tuesday sources close to ArcelorMittal said the company is 'in favour' of the move. (ANSA).