How does the Seveso system, vital for preventing industrial accidents, work? Are all phases of risk management taken into account? EuroparlTV returns to the scene of the Seveso disaster almost 40 years on. It was a Saturday and production had finished. A tank had overheated in the ICMESA chemical plant, owned by La Roche-Givaudan. This overheating caused the reactor to explode. The accident was actually kept secret for ten days until strange things were noticed, like leaves falling from the trees, because trichlorophenol is a defoliant, farmyard animals dying and skin problems, especially for children. We are in the Bosco delle Querce, on the site of the disaster. Damiano Di Simine was a child when the ICMESA reactor exploded. It happened on July 10th 1976 in Seveso, a small town 15 kilometres from Milan. A massive cloud of dioxin was released, but at first the firm didn't reveal the severity of the substances dispersed and the local authorities didn't inform the population. Later there were forced evacuations, the area was cleared and the surrounding houses were destroyed. Now Damiano is president of Legambiente's Milan office. Has the situation changed much 40 years on? Risks will never completely disappear. The system works in itself but the problem is overcoming the obstacles that often stem from the reluctance of local authorities to inform the population about dangerous situations. Following the 1976 disaster, two directives regulate the risk of industrial accidents. How does the Seveso system work today? There's a census of the firms at risk. In Europe around 10,000 firms have been listed and classified according to their level of accident risk. We visited one of the firms subject to the Seveso directive. SIPCAM produces agrochemicals like pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. It occupies 300,000 square metres among a group of villages outside Milan. 3 per cent of the turnover is spent here on safety. Risk of fire is extremely high. This machine has a bulkhead system which closes when the operator opens the door to ensure that the operator is completely safe. SIPCAM has drawn up an internal emergency plan and an external one for incidents outside its own land, and inspections are carried out. We've had 272 since 2000. This means that on average 25 times a year, once every fortnight, ARPA, the fire brigade or the ministry come to inspect our plant. Experts say the greatest risks come from small firms which avoid being inspected rather than the big companies which can invest in preventative measures. How do local authorities carry out checks? Here's Edoardo Bai from Legambiente. They only carry out one check, on how the safety system is managed. How do they do it? -Formally. They sit in an office and do an audit. -Instead of going there... ARPA, the Agency for Environmental Protection, is partly responsible for these checks. Businesses send their emergency plans here. In theory technicians from here visit the relevant establishments. Monitoring is in keeping with the likelihood of accidents occurring. This firm comes under the Seveso directive as these structures could cause an accident. There are three areas of impact, the zone of definite impact, the zone of less severe impact, and preventative evacuation measures will be activated here. Will the population be informed? It depends on the mayor's approach, and the availability of staff, knowledge and financial resources, as well as the level of personal insight. This is the problem with the Seveso system. The population needs to be informed before an accident happens, but very few local authorities do this. We'll end our trip to Milan with the fire brigade, who are highly specialised in chemical accidents and ready to intervene at any time. Do you do drills? A while ago we did a very important drill with a local authority and a chemical firm in that area with a high fire risk. One out of 136 isn't many. When we are called we always make ourselves available because it's in our interests. EuroparlTV video ID: ea24d2f5-9fb6-45ae-a27f-9fb0009b4fb9

• published: 30 Oct 2012
• views: 2150