Pfas, the whole world is talking about the Veneto ruling
The news of the Vicenza Court of Assizes' ruling on the pollution of drinking water by Pfas has gone around the world. The sentence of 141 years in prison and millions of euros in compensation to be paid for 11 managers who took turns at the helm of the former Miteni chemical plant in Trissino has had wide resonance in France. Le Monde , the public television France Télévisions , which reported the involvement and fundamental role of the civil parties, especially the Mamme no Pfas, in the trial, and the international network also in English, France 24 , have spoken about it.
Japan's most important daily newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun, focused on the heavy sentences given to three compatriots (16 years for two managers and 11 years for the third) at the top of the Japanese multinational Mitsubishi, which owned Miteni from 1988 to 2009. "None of the Japanese defendants appeared in court and it is unlikely that the three, found guilty, will be jailed immediately," it read.
And, again, the news also bounced on Bloomberg , a media company based in New York.
Meanwhile, while the Vicenza court ruling affirms the principle that the polluter pays , in the United States Lee Zeldin , the number one at the EPA, the government agency for environmental protection, seems to be backtracking in the fight against “eternal pollutants” . “ PFAS will be at the top of my priorities,” declared the Republican senator who was just appointed by Donald Trump. (We reported it here: https://www.vita.it/sorpresa-pfas-priorita-per-il-nuovo-direttore-dellagenzia-usa-per-lambiente/ ). Instead, an investigation by the American non-profit platform ProPublica reveals the progressive disengagement of the American administration to guarantee clean water free from PFAS . Yet the measures carried out by Joe Biden had been planned during the first term of Donald Trump, who also in this case is denying himself.
The EPA has extended the entry into force of the limits for the presence of these chemicals in drinking water and has canceled over 15 million dollars intended for research . For Pfoa and Pfos, declared carcinogenic by the IARC, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the threshold of 4 nanograms per liter, technically zero, established by the US law passed under the Biden administration, will have to be respected only from 2031. For the other molecules, including GenX, the limit of 10 nanograms per liter will probably be revised. The chemical giant Chemours, which has appealed the regulation in court, stated that the EPA, during the Biden presidency, had used "an inaccurate scientific method and non-compliant procedures", for GenX specifically.
The report finds that EPA’s research cuts will undermine the agency’s ability to identify and continue studying these emerging pollutants . In an email to ProPublica , EPA said its approach is to give water utilities more time to reduce PFAS rather than “issuing fines and collecting penalties that do not benefit public health.” Polluters can continue to do so.
The opening photo is of the No Pfas Moms
- Tags:
- Pollution
- Pfas
- Producing Well
You read this article freely, without being blocked after the first few lines. Did you like it? Did you find it interesting and useful? VITA's online articles are largely accessible for free. We want it to be this way forever, because information is everyone's right. And we can do it thanks to the support of those who subscribe.
Vita.it
