Miteni

A 2013 study carried out by ISPRA ( Superior Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) and CNR (National Research Center) highlights for the first time the worrying presence of PFAS in the territories of Vicenza, Verona and Padua Provinces.

PFAS are “chemical compounds, man-made and therefore not naturally present in the environment, stable, containing long carbon chains, and therefore impermeable to water and fats” (Ministry of Health), used in various industrial sectors and considered harmful, and in some cases cancerous (PFOA), if present in high amounts in the human body.

Venetian authorities have found Miteni S.p.A. and its holding companies (Mitsubishi Corp. and ICIG) as potentially responsible for the pollution of the territories in the provinces of Verona, Vicenza and Padua, due to spilling PFAS compounds produced by Miteni into the soil and water for years either by failing to carry out safety and land reclamation works at the industrial site or by omitting to report the pollution to the responsible authorities in breach of environmental legislation.

According to audits conducted between 2013 and 2020 by environmental and health authorities, Miteni has been estimated to cause pollution that extends over 700 kilometers in the territories of the provinces of Padua, Verona and Vicenza, and involves approximately 350,000 people, with environmental damage ISPRA estimates at 136.8 million euros.

Referring to the unlawful conduct charged to Miteni, a criminal trial is pending before the Court of Assizes of Vicenza against several executives of Mitsubishi, ICIG and Miteni who are charged with the crimes of aggravated unnamed disaster, water poisoning and environmental pollution. A trial in which more than 200 civil parties have been admitted as injured parties by the crimes, which is why it has been defined by many as the largest environmental pollution trial in European history.

Individuals potentially affected by the pollution are:

• those residents in the areas affected by the contamination who have PFAS concentrations in their blood above the tolerance limits set by health authorities;
• people who have been affected by diseases related to PFAS exposure (including, kidney and testicular neoplasms, thyroid disease, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension in pregnancy, ulcerative colitis, etc.);
• owners of real estate located in the aforementioned contaminated areas who, as a result of PFAS pollution, have suffered a depreciation and/or a decrease in the faculty of use of the real estate (e.g., being unable to use the land for planting or to use drinking water in daily life);
• those residents living close to the PFAS-polluted areas who harbor, in the form of emotional distress, concerns about getting diseases in the future due to exposure to the pollutants.

Delex’s Environmental Law Team has already been given permission to access the records of the criminal trial at the Vicenza Assize Court and is actively working on the case.

Due also to its relationships with investment funds and international law firms that have followed PFAS pollution cases occurring overseas, Delex is offering those harmed by the case the opportunity to join a class action lawsuit funded by a litigation finance company to pursue action against those responsible for the pollution claiming compensation for all damages suffered.