🔗 Share this article To Which Location Does a European Chemical Plant That Contaminated Water Supplies Go Next? Heading to India The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown hills of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, give way to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands under the open sky. This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its machinery is far from new: it originates from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after one of the worst environmental scandals in the nation’s modern record: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the company’s management was prosecuted for contaminating water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were convicted at the Vicenza court of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and given prison sentences, which they are expected to appeal against. What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed? Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its intellectual property and processes – everything needed to produce Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among villages and wooded areas. And the factory has just started to resume PFAS production. A Toxic Legacy Once known for its expertise in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, researchers found exceptionally elevated levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of inhabitants had been subjected through potable water. The most impacted were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, displayed among the top levels of PFAS ever recorded in blood samples. “When the story came to light, I reviewed a catalog of health issues related to PFAS, and found out I had them all,” states Ermetti. Ex-employee Ilario Ermetti had elevated levels of Pfas in his blood. High levels of PFAS in the bloodstream are linked to higher chances of malignancies, heart conditions, liver and kidney damage, reproductive disorders and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure. Community Concerns Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and campaigner with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after discovering her children’s blood showed elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned. “As mothers, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Because our children are everyone’s children.” Corporate Transition Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a subsidiary of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the public auction. By early 2023, all the equipment was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to investors. Records of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s executives downplayed environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with EU regulations”. Goenka is a member on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and financial misreporting at the recent court case and sentenced to six years and four months in jail. Per a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the firm’s collapse. Although Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment. Growth Plans By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data show that, to get approval on the quality of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing test batches to firms with past business relationships with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC. Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, manufacturing substances that will be used in agrochemicals, medicines, colorants, beauty products and other products. Regulatory Context Investigations demonstrate that levels of forever chemicals in the environment are worryingly elevated, especially near production sites. But although international attention is growing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet. “If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent in such guidelines. It’s not recognised by the national authorities currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the academic institution. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in various regions. But this work are limited in scope, and there are still only a handful.” Regional Consequences Parineeta Dandekar, head of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a poor ecological history”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fisher folk communities in this area totally deteriorated,” she said. The chemical district is dependent on a shared effluent treatment facility that has been frequently criticized. “The local villages have consistently reported that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in rural Maharashtra state, the facility fails to operate and factories release contaminated effluent straight into the streams.” Regulatory bodies have issued several warning letters to the site in recent years. International Ramifications In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, import and utilization of more than 10,000 persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be pushing the industry to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I believe that this issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s production, intellectual assets and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the power that these global corporations have to relocate in nations where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of environmental protection.” Persistent Threats Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact lives on – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for years to come. “That region has seen enough ecological damage by now,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”