Steel group ILVA on Friday
branded "illegitimate" Taranto Mayor Rinaldo Melucci ordinance
demanding the steelworks in the Puglia city stop its polluting
emissions within 30 days.
ILVA, which is being run by commissioners after ArelorMittal
pulled out of a deal to revamp it last year, said the ordinance
was "illegitimate, inappropriate and disproportionate".
Pollution from the works, Europe's largest, have been linked
to higher-than-normal cancer rates in Taranto.
Melucci ordered ILVA to identify the plant responsible for
the pollution and stop the emissions within 30 days, or face
closure by fiat.
ILVA said the ordinance "affects the operations of a plant of
strategic national interest".
It urged a resolution to the row via "ordinary instruments"
and not by bans, indicating that it will resort to legal action
if the mayor goes ahead with his threat.
ILVA is by far the biggest single employer in Taranto, with
over 8,000 jobs and thousands more in ancillary firms.
It is going through an environmental clean-up aimed at
cutting emissions while saving jobs.
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