The province of Alessandria takes action against PFAS by imposing a stop on Solvay

Following the checks carried out by Arpa Piemonte, which certified the failure to comply with the limits of PFAS emissions into the environment, the province of Alessandria sent a double warning to Syensqo – the former Solvay – imposing a halt to production for 30 days.The decision was taken after the company was in recent weeks at the center of particularly serious foam releases in the Bormida river and after investigations conducted for years which resulted in accusations of negligent environmental disaster and which led to discoveries that were anything but reassuring, such as the discovery of Pfas in the blood of the inhabitants of Spinetta Marengo.«It is time for a national law that prohibits the use and production of these dangerous substances to protect the environment and the health of citizens», commented Greenpeace Italia.

THE Pfas they are a group that collects over 10,000 synthetic molecules not present in nature, used in various industrial processes for the manufacture of products such as non-stick pans or some food packaging.Being highly stable molecules, they are not briefly degraded in the environment and have been defined “eternal pollutants”.Exposure to Pfas has been associated with thyroid problems, diabetes, liver and immune system damage, kidney and testicular cancer and negative impacts on fertility and since November 2023 the substances have also been recognized as carcinogenic.Pfas have already been detected in Veneto - where the issue is so serious that even the UN High Commissioner sent a delegation years ago – in the drinking waters of Lombardy and Piedmont.

These are substances certainly not foreign to Solvey, given that since 2007 the company has been identified as one of the main sources of PFAS pollution in the Po river basin and recently - after a self-report - it was classified as the most polluted site in Europe.Although the possible negative impact of the plant had been hypothesized since the 1980s, it took decades to find the substances in the blood of citizens and launch dozens of investigations, including the one that led to the accusation of negligent environmental disaster to two former Solvey executives:Stefano Bigini and Andrea Diotto.Furthermore, last August it had even tripped preventive seizure of the chemical group's two gypsum landfills.The raid - the second after that of 12 February 2021, which resulted in a vast search to verify the spillage of polluting substances - was carried out by the NOE carabinieri at the request of the Alessandria Prosecutor's Office, authorized by the investigating judge, and led to the seizure of some tanks because, according to the investigators, although they were no longer operational they would have been reused.

Now however, after i controls of Arpa Piemonte who have certified the failure to comply with the limits of PFAS emissions into the environment, the province of Alessandria has sent two new warnings, which require a 30 day stop period to the company's production:the first refers to the substances discharged into the Bormida river, while the second concerns the high values ​​recorded in the soils inside the chemical centre.Solvey would thus not have respected the integrated environmental authorisation, which is based on provisions necessary to avoid irremediably compromising the territory where the community adjacent to the plant resides, i.e. the Alessandria suburb of Spinetta Marengo.It's on the news intervened Also Giuseppe Ungherese – responsible for the Pollution Campaign of Greenpeace Italy – who welcomed the provision hoping that it is only the first of a long series:«After years of silence and pollution, public bodies are finally adopting an initial measure to protect the environment and human health from the production of PFAS by Solvay», he commented.

On the other hand, however, the measure may have arrived too late:Arpa Piemonte has delivered only on June 5th data collected on May 20, i.e. more than two weeks after the anomalous discharge values ​​were detected.«The physiological time to process the data», according to General Director Secondo Barbero.

[by Roberto Demaio]