“The risk of a shutdown of Ilva was real but it has now been removed by the giant leap represented by the upgrade program presented by Ilva, and by the genuine intention of the company to develop the program,” the Italian environment minister Corrado Clini stated after a meeting with Bruno Ferrante, president of the Italian steelmaker Ilva. Minister Clini made his comments following the presentation by Ilva of a new environmental program in response to the Environmental Integrated Authorization (EIA) previously issued by the Ministry of the Environment, which had specified the environmental improvements which were to be implemented at Ilva’s facilities. Minister Clini also commented that Ilva’s program forces the company to implement important measures both in the technological and in the operational fields.
According to Ilva president Ferrante, Ilva’s new program, which consists of a technical implementation plan in response to the ministry’s EIA document, will be examined and evaluated by ministry officials, who will give their response within a week. Ferrante added that financial issues were not the issue of the discussion with the minister, adding that the ministry is not interested in costs, but in upgrade works.
In addition, Mr. Ferrante announced his intention to file a request for the cancellation of the seizure of Ilva’s upstream facilities at its Taranto-based steel complex. “Only with the full availability of the plants will we be able to act in light of the new EIA. Once the plants are in our possession, we will be able to develop an industrial plan according to which we will estimate the costs and economic effects of the upgrade program,” he said.
In August this year, prosecutors in Taranto had ordered Ilva to halt production and clean up its Taranto steelmaking complex in the south of Italy after an inquiry found that toxic emissions from the plant were harming workers and local residents.