Food For Thought

“Trial of the century” in Italy Over Mass Asbestos Deaths

The two directors of the multinational company Eternit, Swiss millionaire Stephan Schmidaeiny and the Belgian Baron Louis De Cartier, are being charged over the death of almost 2,200 people and over 700 ill. They are being charged with the deaths tied to the use of asbestos in manufacturing in four Italian enterprises. The main Counts are intentional environmental disaster and failure of voluntary safety standards. It is the first time in Europe that in a trial for environmental damages the civil parties will be represented by an international coalition: together with the lawyers of the CGIL (Italian peak union council), there are lawyers from France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. Also participating in the hearing will be some foreign delegations, including a group of miners from the French union CFDT. In court during the first hearing were 150 lawyers and associates, 110 journalists, 424 victims of asbestos diseases or their relatives, and representatives from 48 institutions, including administrators and the mayors of the municipalities affected by the disaster. The hearing will continue on January 25. It is possible that the contingent of eight lawyers representing victims will increase to include representatives of victims from Spain and Brazil. Eternit factories in Brazil are still in operation, while those in Spain have been closed. One of the current lawyers said their aim was to demonstrate that Eternit had a single director for health and safety in all countries. They are also claiming that among other things, the company for many years “recycled” production waste in the streets and infrastructure of the surrounding neighbourhoods in order to avoid appropriate disposal.

I don’t see why individuals shouldn’t be held responsible here. The James Hardie compensation isn’t likely to be adequate – and while we’re at it, we could get some money to help remove the enormous amount of asbestos that’s still in our environment.