THEblast furnace 2 of the former Ilva remains on. The decided it Court of Review of Taranto, which, in the second instance, upheld the appeal presented by the commissioners of the steel plant. The decision of judge Francesco Maccagnano, who had rejected the motion against the closure of the plant, is thus annulled.
The Afo2 had been seized in June 2015, after the accident in which Alessandro Morricella, a 35-year-old worker, was hit by a casting of incandescent cast iron.
According to sources close to Ilva's defence, the Review fully accepted the appeal, granting up to a maximum of 14 months (with milestones at 9 and 10 months) to install the 6 new machines (already ordered and partly paid for) which will make the cast iron casting cycle in blast furnace 2 automatic.
With this ruling so they stop the procedures for shutting down the structure. A decision that arrived just in time, given that on 8 January the operation would have entered a crucial phase.
È the second time that the Review overturns a provision by Judge Maccagnano on blast furnace 2. The first was in September, when the judges accepted another appeal by Ilva, in that case against the stop to the use of the plant decreed by Maccagnano at the end of July . In both cases, the Public Prosecutor's Office took the side of the commissioners.
