🔗 Share this article Where Does a European Chemical Plant Which Polluted Drinking Water Move On? Heading to India The lush green jungle and reddish-brown hills of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, give way to a modest rise where a factory looms against the sky. The factory is largely newly built, but its machinery is far from new: it comes from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the nation’s modern record: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was brought to trial for polluting water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, its former executives were convicted at the local tribunal of causing environmental pollution and other charges and sentenced to jail, which they are expected to appeal against. Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to produce Pfas – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among villages and groves of trees. And the plant has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again. An Environmental Burden Previously recognized for its specialism in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high concentrations of Pfas in the plant’s wastewater. Hundreds of thousands of residents had been subjected through potable water. The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, showed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS ever recorded in human blood. “When the story came to light, I looked at a catalog of health issues related to PFAS, and found out I had them all,” states 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 cancer, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent surgical operation. Public Apprehensions Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, started organizing after learning her children’s blood showed elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s proprietary information and equipment were being sent to India, she was shocked. “Being parents, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Since our kids 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, the complete machinery was being shipped en route to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to shareholders. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with European standards”. Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic Italy, a company established 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. Per a ex-supervisor speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India prior to the firm’s collapse. While Laxmi bought Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds compatible with 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 emerge as a top player in the production of Pfas and specialty chemicals. Logistics data show that, to get approval on the standard of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC. Since early 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, manufacturing substances that will be utilized for agrochemicals, medicines, colorants, cosmetics and additional goods. Environmental Oversight Investigations demonstrate that levels of persistent pollutants in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But although global focus is increasing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet. “If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is not present in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Autonomous study teams across India have conducted studies in various regions. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still only a handful.” Local Impact 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 completely collapsed,” she said. The chemical district is served by a centralised wastewater treatment plant that has been frequently criticized. “Nearby communities have always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in rural Maharashtra state, the facility fails to operate and factories discharge polluted water straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent multiple notices to the site in recent years. International Ramifications In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, import and use of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This attention may be pushing the sector to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the academic institution. “I believe that this issue should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and equipment have been transferred to a country like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence that these global corporations have to relocate in nations where there is evidently a race to the bottom in terms of ecological safeguards.” Ongoing Risks Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact lives on – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The health impacts linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact populations that are facing an hazardous setting for years to come. “The area has seen enough ecological damage already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”