🔗 Share this article To Which Location Does a European Manufacturing Facility Which Polluted Water Supplies Move On? Heading to India The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown hills of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, give way to a small hill where a factory looms against the sky. This industrial unit is largely newly built, but its machinery is not: it comes from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following one of the worst environmental scandals in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the company’s management was brought to trial for polluting water resources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court 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 And yet, the entire operational setup, its patents and methods – everything needed to produce Pfas – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among villages and groves of trees. And the factory has recently begun to resume PFAS production. 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 extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been subjected through drinking water. The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its fluorinated chemical department, displayed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS documented in human blood. “When the story came to light, I reviewed a list of medical conditions associated with PFAS, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti. Former Miteni worker Ilario Ermetti showed a high concentration of Pfas in his blood. High levels of Pfas in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of cancer, heart conditions, organ impairment, reproductive disorders and additional ailments. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent medical procedure. Community Concerns Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and campaigner with Mamme No Pfas, began mobilizing after learning her children’s blood indicated elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and equipment were being transferred to India, she was shocked. “As mothers, as females, our concern has grown,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.” Corporate Transition After Miteni went bankrupt, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the open sale. By the start of 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped en route to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was boasting of its recent purchase to investors. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s executives minimized environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”. Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity founded in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was found guilty of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the June trial 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 months before the firm’s collapse. While Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building 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 did not respond to requests for comment. Growth Plans By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy explicitly spelled out the goal to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and become a leader in the manufacturing of PFAS and specialty chemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to firms with previous commercial ties with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC. Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, producing chemicals that will be used in pesticides, medicines, dyes, cosmetics and other products. Regulatory Context Investigations demonstrate that levels of forever chemicals in the ecosystem are worryingly elevated, especially near manufacturing facilities. But although international attention is growing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet. “If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Autonomous study teams across India have conducted studies in various regions. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still very few of them.” Regional Consequences Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was set up in 1986, “the livelihood of fisher folk communities in this region totally deteriorated,” she said. The industrial area is dependent on a shared effluent treatment facility that has been at the forefront of complaints. “Nearby communities have consistently reported that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant fails to operate and industries release polluted water directly into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the plant in the past few years. International Ramifications In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to prohibit the production, importation and use of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This attention may be pushing the sector to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the University of Padua. “I believe that this matter should be investigated, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and machinery have been transferred to a country like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the power that these global corporations have to move in countries where there is evidently a lowering of standards in terms of ecological safeguards.” Persistent Threats Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy lives on – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to Pfas production are expected to impact communities that are facing an unsafe environment for generations. “The area has seen enough environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s always a risk.”