«More than 1,000 deaths from smog in 4 years in Turin», because the former mayors Fassino and Appendino and the former governor Chiamparino risk being prosecuted

According to the prosecutor's office which closed the investigations into seven former administrators, the suspects should have adopted more effective measures to reduce air pollution levels

Seven former Piedmontese administrators risk ending up on trial for negligent environmental pollution, after the closure of the investigations into deaths due to smog between 2015 and 2019.A figure that varies between 1,000 and 1,400 victims, to which are added 1,179 people hospitalized for respiratory or cardiovascular diseases, reported in the epidemiological report ordered by prosecutor Gianfranco Colace who is investigating, among others, the former president of the Piedmont Region Sergio Chiamparino, and the former mayors of Turin, Piero Fassino And Chiara Appendino.For them the accusation is of not having missed the necessary measures to combat the concentrations of harmful substances, with the prosecutor speaking of a vortex of "inadequate measures", "failed interventions", "exemptions", "imprudence, "negligence" , «incompetence».

Countermeasures not adopted

According to the report on the air quality of the city of Turin, there was an "excess of cases" compared to the expected figures, attributable to exceeding the thresholds of PM10, nitrogen dioxide and PM 2.5.The regional air quality plan is in the investigators' sights, which had set a "time horizon for returning to the limits by 2030", however violating the duty according to the prosecutor to "proceed as quickly as possible".The instruments for detecting when the fine dust thresholds were exceeded were also contested, as they triggered the alert only several days after the breaches.And worse was the case with traffic bans, often full of too many exemptions.Furthermore, there would have been a lack of systematic checks on the heating systems of homes.The objections to the investigation are also based on the comparison between Turin and other Italian and European cities, carried out with an urban planning consultancy.Compared to other comparable cities, Turin would have been lacking in limited traffic areas, as well as in parking spaces for charging electric vehicles and in promoting public transport and bile-sharing.

The accusations against the mayors

The investigation was started by a complaint from the president of the "Turin breathes" committee, Roberto Mezzalama, together with the lawyers Marino Careggiò and Giuseppe Civale.The lawyers of the suspects defend themselves by explaining that everything possible would have been done in those years, especially in light of the few tools available to local administrators.The prosecutor's accusations in the final investigation report are direct.According to the prosecutor's office, the suspects "caused a significant and measurable compromise or deterioration of the air in the City of Turin".Speaking of those who administered the city, the prosecutor recalls how «the mayor has the power to issue contingent and urgent ordinances in the event of health emergencies such as those, among other things, deriving from exceeding the PM10 limit values, because the Exposure to this pollutant has been shown to be the causal agent of excess mortality."