Plan for Ilva?

Finally, the Monti government says it has a way to deal with the Ilva steel mill at Taranto (Puglia).  Last Thursday, the Council of Ministers adopted a decree which the government says will allow the mill to continue to operate and will ensure that it engages in a cleanup that will meet health and environmental standards.  The key appears to be the terms of a autorizzazione integrata ambientale, an authorization for the mill to operate provided environmental standards are met.  The Minister of Health, Renato Balduzzi, said that this authorization includes

“stricter prescriptions than in the past and it’s crucial that for the first time explicit indicators of public health conditions were included to be followed by a real health plan for Taranto and by the already announced monitoring agency established in conjunction with the Puglia Region” ["prescrizioni più rigide del passato, ed è determinante che per la prima volta siano state inserite esplicite indicazioni di tipo sanitario" alle quali "farà seguito un vero e proprio Piano salute per Taranto e la già annunciata costituzione dell'Osservatorio in raccordo con la Regione Puglia.”]

This weekend, however, the national secretary of the association of prosecuting magistrates (Associazione Nazionale Magistrati) expressed concern that the decree could violate constitutional protections of magistrates' authority.  At issue, I think, is the decree's ability to set aside the Taranto magistrate's July order taking control of the facility to prevent further health risks.  Prime Minister Monti, Minister of Health, Balduzzi, and others in the government have responded, saying that they consulted widely before adopting the decree and that they are confident of its constitutionality.

So there we are.  The steel plant is still operating; for the moment the magistrates are standing by their authority over it; and the government is standing by its decree.  It looks like there will be some serious discussions in the next few days.  But even if questions of authority get cleared up, there will still be issues of how the cleanup is to be paid for and how serious the monitoring will be.  The current owners and managers do not have a record that inspires great trust.