AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Ilva steel plant in the Italian city of Taranto should be shut down if it poses serious and significant threats to the environment and human health, the European Court of Justice said on Tuesday.
The steel plant, a major employer in southern Italy, has been challenged over its environmental and health impacts for years.
“Where there are serious and significant threats to the integrity of the environment and human health … the operation of the installation must be suspended,” the court said in its ruling.
It took Italy to task for repeatedly extending operations at the plant on the basis of foreseeable emissions, saying that if actual emissions prove to exceed acceptable limits, output should be suspended.
“The Court takes the view that, contrary to what Ilva and the Italian Government claim, the permit reconsideration procedure cannot be limited to setting limit values for polluting substances the emission of which was foreseeable,” it said.
It did not call for the plant to be halted, saying that decision lay with the Milan district court that had asked it for a ruling.
Measures to reduce the health hazards posed by the plant have been planned since 2012, but implementation deadlines have been regularly pushed back.
The court pointed out that the close link between the protection of the environment and human health are key objectives of EU law.
The Ilva steel plant is one of the largest steelworks in Europe. It is located in the southern region of Puglia and started operations in 1965.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Romolo Tosiani, editing by Gavin Jones and Jason Neely)
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