Seveso continues to suffer months after poison blast

Press, 26 February 1977, Page 6

Seveso continues to suffer months after poison blast

Bv ANNETTE von BROECKER, NZPA-Reuter Correspondent Seveso Fear, confusion, anger, and charges of irresponsibility mark the Italian town of Seveso seven months after an explosion at a local chemicals factory spread a cloud of deadly poison over the surrounding countryside. Visitors to the town receive contradictory information about what is being done, and hear angry complaints of Government inaction.

Although a serious effort at decontamination is under way, a parish priest says control over the worst hit area has been ineffective. No-one knows what caused the explosion at the Swissowned Icmesa factory last July 10 despite a long investigation. The chemical released by the explosion — tetrachloridebenzo dioxin. or dioxin for short — killed thousands of animals, made crops and vegetables shrivel, and left hundreds of children

suffering from skin com-|i plaints. ! Seveso’s inhabitants fear); new outbreaks of cloracne, 1 an affliction which has tern- ; porarily disfigured the skins of almost 400 children. ’ Doctors say cloracne is ■ not a disease, but an alarm : signal for the presence of : dioxin in human organs. One woman has died of liver cancer and doctors in 1 the area do not rule out the ; possibility that her death was i at least partly caused by ; dioxin. Two baby boys have i also been born with malformations — although the , poison has not been offici- , ally blamed. Most new-born babies appear to be clinically healthy, ; doctors tell inquirers. But j the long-term effects of :] dioxin will not be known for) ( generations, they add. Seven months after thejj explosion people in the area' sav the poison is still, spreading. It has entered! ( schools and public buildings )■ and has been swept into)’ other areas by heavy rains'! or by the wheels of cars; and lorries. ’ I Some mothers keep their i:

'children at home, but others ; ! let them play near the pol- ; [luted zones. The schools have < (been closed and reopened j after being cleaned. There had already been 48 1 cases of cloracne in Seveso when recently a sudden , fresh outbreak disfigured the t faces' of 337 children. Italy’s leading newspaper, ( “Corriere Della Sera,”;, blamed the new outbreak on] a lack of security measures,; describing it as the result, of) a “collective act of mad-'; ness.” T Local people blame the j authorities and refer to poll- ■ tical wrangling over Seveso. ( The town is led by a Christian Democrat, the province!; in which Seveso is situated; has a communist head, andp (the region is again led by a: [Christian Democrat. And > (there is also the minority [Christian Democrat Govern-i] ment in Rome. ■ “And all of them claim a'< (say here in Seveso,” a town)] I hall official, himself an inde-j ( 1 pendent, complained. I Mrs Faustina Bomba rda,'' (manager of a communist-‘' [run family club, said; “It’s‘l

about time they did some-: thing. All they have done is! scare us and then do noth-: ing.” Another woman added] “It’s terrible to live with: this fear, with this invisible; enemy all the time. I Wash' [the floor three times a day.” [ ; Traces of dioxin were dis-l (covered on apples, salad] [and parsley in a market sev-[ (eral kilometres away. : Adding to the fears of the) (population is the prospect of; [a huge incinerator which the; region has decided ta set up in the middle of the polluted! area, to burn all material; contaminated by dioxin. The 5000 people living) (nearby are bitterly opposed [to a permanent disposal unit (which could later also be (used for all the industrial (waste of the region. i “An incinerator of this' [kind will kill Seveso,” the [Mayor (Mr Francesca Rocca) '.said. Damage done bv the jlcmesa accident was already) !enormous, he said. “People: [lost their homes, and it may : be years before they can re-l ‘turn.” _ I