ECHR orders Italy to compensate residents of Fonderie Pisano area in Salerno

Brussels – The Italian state will have to pay 8,700 euros to 151 residents of Baronissi, Pellezzano, and Salerno, victims of pollution caused by Fonderie Pisano in the province of Salerno, the European Court of Human Rights, to which the 151 had appealed in 2018, ruled. According to the Strasbourg court, Italian authorities “did not take all the necessary measures to ensure the effective protection of the rights of citizens.” Therefore, they violated the right to respect for private life, enshrined in the Convention on Human Rights.

Fonderie Pisano has smelted ferrous metals for over half a century — since 1960. In 2006, the industrial area where the plant was located was earmarked for residential use on the condition that the plant be relocated. The relocation never occurred. Nonetheless, the location was opened for residential development. Following numerous inspections and administrative and criminal proceedings – which “all found shortcomings in the operation of the plant,” the Court noted – from 2016, authorities took measures, accompanied by monitoring, to minimize the harmful effects of the foundry on the environment and health of the local population.

Among the 151 plaintiffs, several claim, in particular, to have suffered from cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological diseases. They also complain that the state failed to inform them of the risks associated with living in the area surrounding the plant and to involve them in the decision-making process regarding the authorization of its operation. Today, the Court upheld the violation of Article 8, which states the right to respect for private and family life.