Following the checks that were carried out by the consultants of the Ministry of the Environment and the Public Prosecutor's Office, the investigating judge of the court of Savona, Fiorenza Giorgi, accepted the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office to seize the Tirreno Power coal-fired power plant in Vado Ligure. On the basis of some investigations carried out, failure to comply with certain limits imposed by the Hague would have emerged. The investigating judge has given a mandate to the carabinieri to carry out the seizure but, according to what has been learned, the possible execution of the precautionary measure would not lead to the blocking of the plant.
Meanwhile, in line with the orders expressed by the investigating magistrate, Tirreno Power is shutting down the energy production plants of the two coal-fired groups, while the gas-fired one, not subject to the Hague, remains in operation. The operation will require a total of about 20 hours, 6 to complete the shutdown and another 14-15 to dispose of the coal inside the groups.
The plant is a former Enel structure, 50% controlled by the French Gdf-Suez and 39% owned (in transparency) by Sorgenia and 5,5% each by Iren and Hera.
According to investigators, Tirreno Power would have caused a series of suspicious deaths between 2000 and 2007. “Between 1700 and 2000 hospitalizations of adults for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and 450 children would have been hospitalized for respiratory diseases and asthma attacks between and 2005,” said Attorney Granero.
Two strands of investigation are therefore open on the activity of Tirreno Power, one for environmental disaster and the other for manslaughter. Are under investigation for environmental disaster Giovanni Gosio former general manager and the director of the plant Pasquale D'Elia. There would also be a third suspect whose name is unknown.
The company has always defended itself by arguing that the studies of biased consultants have "critical issues". “They have never been subjected to a hearing, it is not clear what the method of assessing exposure to pollutants was. This lack of clarity is accompanied by the absence of the necessary analysis of robustness, sensitivity and therefore global reliability of the method adopted. Also for this reason, no causal link can be affirmed concretely” between deaths, illnesses and emissions.
