ROME โ A European court on Thursday said Italy violated the right to life of those living in a toxic-waste polluted area around Naples , in a scathing ruling that validated a generation of residents' complaints that mafia dumping and burning of waste had led to increased rates of cancer and other ailments.
The binding judgement from the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Italian government to develop a comprehensive strategy to address and monitor the contamination of the Tierra dei Fuoci, or Land of Fires, an area of 90 municipalities around Caserta and Naples which is home for around 2. The Strasbourg-based court gave the government two years to also set up an information platform so that residents have access to data about the pollution of their lands and the verified health risks associated with living there.
Over the years, police have sequestered dozens of fields because their irrigation wells contained high levels of lead, arsenic and the industrial solvent tetrachloride. Over the years, Camorra turncoats revealed how the racket works, directing police to specific sites where toxic garbage was dumped, buried or burned. The court found that Italian authorities had ordered seven different parliamentary commissions of inquiry, but a chaotic public administration system had failed to address the pollution systematically and had not done what was necessary to protect residents' lives.
Italy's government, in its arguments to the court, had pointed to seven environmental-related convictions and numerous initiatives to investigate health problems. The Rev. Maurizio Patriciello, who has long ministered to families affected by the contamination, said the ruling vindicated their decades-long battle. We saw with our own eyes the destruction of our lands and our lives.
He offered a prayer as well for all those who had died from cancer during their legal battle, including his own brothers, a sister-in-law and nephew. The case was brought to the European Court of Human Rights by 41 people who live in Caserta or Naples provinces and five local organizations. Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. European court finds Italy violated the right to life of Naples residents living in toxic dump area.
