20世纪70年代，位于意大利南部海岸塔兰托的钢铁厂曾是欧洲最大的钢铁厂之一，拥有2万名工人，年产数百万吨钢材。如今该厂仅剩8000名员工，本月已停止生产。7月，米兰一家法院下令该厂于10月25日前关闭，以安装污染控制设施。业主提出上诉，意大利总理梅洛尼领导的政府允许其保持炉温，以便恢复生产。本周意大利最高法院将裁决是否必须关闭高炉，这可能意味着该厂的终结。
In the 1970s the steelworks at Taranto, on Italy’s southern coast, were among Europe’s largest, with 20,000 workers churning out millions of tonnes of steel a year. Today the plant is down to 8,000 employees, and this month it halted production. In July a court in Milan ordered it shut down by October 25th to install pollution controls. The owners appealed, and the government of Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, allowed it to keep its furnaces warm so that production could resume. This week Italy’s highest court will decide whether they must be turned off, which could spell the plant’s end.
钢铁厂的烟囱高耸于城市上空，排放出毒素。在附近的坦布里区，居民每天都要从阳台上清扫红色粉尘。研究记录了当地癌症和呼吸系统疾病发病率升高，以及儿童认知表现下降的情况。一项研究发现，2011年至2019年间，钢铁厂附近超额死亡人数超过1000人；另一项研究发现，肺癌死亡率比地区平均水平高出30%。
The steelworks’ chimneys tower over the city, spewing out toxins. In the nearby district of Tamburi residents sweep red dust from their balconies every day. Studies have documented elevated rates of cancer and respiratory disease, as well as reduced cognitive performance among children. One study found over 1,000 excess deaths between 2011-19 near the plant; another found deaths from lung cancer were 30% above the regional average.
当地儿科医生格拉齐亚·帕里西表示，她看到患呼吸道疾病和结膜炎的儿童越来越多。她的患者中包括患白血病和脑肿瘤的儿童。孩子一咳嗽，母亲就担心最坏的结果。“我们不敢呼吸、不敢进食、不敢让孩子在田野玩耍，”帕里西医生说。
Grazia Parisi, a local paediatrician, says she sees growing numbers of children with respiratory illnesses and conjunctivitis. Her patients include children with leukaemia and brain tumours. When children get a cough, mothers fear the worst. “We are afraid to breathe, eat or let our children play in the fields,” says Dr Parisi.
起诉该厂的人中包括奥雷利奥·雷布齐，他的儿子亚历山德罗患有囊性纤维化，于16岁时去世。在紧邻钢厂的一座教堂里，一幅基督指向钢铁厂的马赛克画下，雷布齐回忆说，医生曾敦促他带儿子离开。“但亚历山德罗拒绝了，他说：‘不该离开我热爱的这座城市的是我，而应该是那些来到这里并污染了它的人。’”政府担心关厂会损害意大利制造商利益，并重创塔兰托经济。
Among those suing the plant is Aurelio Rebuzzi, whose son Alessandro suffered from cystic fibrosis. He died at 16. In a church next to the plant, under a mosaic of Christ pointing at a steel factory, Mr Rebuzzi recalls doctors urging him to take his son away. “But Alessandro refused, saying ‘It’s not me that should leave my city that I love, but those who came and polluted it.’”The government fears a shutdown would hurt Italian manufacturers and devastate Taranto’s economy.
该厂1964年开厂时为国有，1995年实行私有化，但此后因国际竞争和因污染被判处的罚款而举步维艰。国家曾多次介入，对该厂进行赔偿和救助。
The plant was owned by the state when it opened in 1964. It was privatised in 1995, but has struggled to cope with international competition and with court penalties for pollution. The state has intervened repeatedly to indemnify the plant and bail it out.
10月中旬，工人封锁道路抗议关厂。在该厂工作了26年的工会组织者奥龙佐·斯帕尼洛表示，政府应在保住就业的同时让炼钢更清洁。他的父亲也曾在该厂工作，死于脑癌。工人们在生计担忧与健康担忧之间艰难平衡。安全员安杰洛·比基耶里说，不在工厂工作的居民视工人为帮凶：“他们恨我们。”环保智库Ecco称，该厂可先从煤炭转为天然气，再转为绿氢，成本约110亿欧元（约合120亿美元）。
In mid-October workers blocked roads to protest against the shutdown. Oronzo Spagnulo, a union organiser who has worked there for 26 years, said the government should make steelmaking cleaner while preserving jobs. His father, who also worked at the plant, died of brain cancer. The workers struggle to balance concern for their livelihoods with their health. Angelo Bicchieri, a safety officer, says residents who do not work at the factory see the workers as complicit: “They hate us.”Ecco, an environmental think-tank, says the plant could switch from coal to natural gas and then green hydrogen at a cost of about €11bn ($12bn).
但劳动力规模将缩减至3200人。政府称欧洲绿色新政资金可用，并希望寻找新的私人业主出资承担其余部分。但关厂令让该厂吸引力下降。
But the workforce would shrink to 3,200. The government says European green-deal funds are available, and it hopes to find new private owners to fund the rest. But the shutdown order makes the plant less attractive.
一些居民甚至拒绝清洁炼钢方案。他们希望该地区停止炼钢，转向农业和旅游业。过去二十年欧洲钢铁产量已缩减三分之一。如果塔兰托钢铁厂顺应这一趋势，未必是坏事。
Some residents reject even the clean-steel idea. They would prefer the region to stop making steel and shift to agriculture and tourism. Europe’s steel output has shrunk by one-third over the past two decades. If Taranto’s steelworks were to follow the trend, it might be no bad thing.