🔗 Share this article Where Does a European Chemical Plant Which Polluted Water Supplies Go Next? Heading to India The lush green jungle and reddish-brown hills of Lote, located on India’s western shoreline, give way to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands against the sky. This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its equipment is not: it originates from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 following among the most severe environmental scandals in the nation’s modern record: after years of manufacturing persistent PFAS compounds, the company’s management was brought to trial for contaminating water sources in an region home to 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the local tribunal of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated. Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes And yet, all of the company’s equipment, its intellectual property and processes – everything needed to manufacture Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among local communities and groves of trees. And the factory has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again. A Toxic Legacy Previously recognized for its specialism in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the harmful aftermath it left behind. In 2011, researchers found exceptionally elevated concentrations of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Numerous of inhabitants had been exposed through potable water. The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, displayed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS ever recorded in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, I reviewed a list of medical conditions associated with PFAS, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti. Ex-employee Ilario Ermetti showed a high concentration of Pfas in his blood. High levels of PFAS in the blood are linked to higher chances of malignancies, heart conditions, organ impairment, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent medical procedure. Public Apprehensions Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mothers Against PFAS, started organizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being transferred to India, she was shocked. “Being parents, as women, our concern has grown,” she said. “Because our children are the children of all.” Business Shift After Miteni went bankrupt, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a branch of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the public auction. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was travelling on freight ships en route to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to investors. Records of investor gatherings show that Laxmi’s executives minimized environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “doing everything legally according to European standards”. Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and financial misreporting at the recent court case and given six years and four months in jail. According to 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 purchased Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already planning to start producing fluorochemicals compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment. Growth Plans By 2021, Laxmi’s plan explicitly spelled out the goal to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to firms with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC. Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be utilized for agrochemicals, medicines, colorants, cosmetics and additional goods. Regulatory Context Studies have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are worryingly elevated, particularly around production sites. But although global focus is growing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet. “Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present 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 conducted studies in various regions. But this work are limited in scope, and there are still only a handful.” Regional Consequences Parineeta Dandekar, head of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fishing populations in this region completely collapsed,” she said. The chemical district is dependent on a shared effluent treatment facility that has been frequently criticized. “Nearby communities have always stated that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a common occurrence in rural Maharashtra state, the plant fails to operate and industries discharge contaminated effluent straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent several warning letters to the site in the past few years. Global Implications In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, importation and utilization of over ten thousand forever chemicals. This scrutiny may be driving the sector to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the academic institution. “I think that this issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and equipment have been relocated to a nation like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to relocate in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.” Persistent Threats Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact lives on – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with Pfas production are likely to affect populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for generations. “The area has experienced sufficient ecological damage already,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms establish presence, it’s always a risk.”