B3-0472 and 0483/94

Resolution on accidents in the Italian oil industry

The European Parliament,

A.whereas on 26 March 1994 in the vicinity of Borgofranco di Ivrea (Piedmont), a leak in the SNAM pipeline transporting oil from Pavia to Martigny in Switzerland resulted in an oil spill followed by a fire which burned approximately 5000 square metres of cultivated land,

B.whereas on 28 February 1994 in the vicinity of Trecate di Novara (Piedmont) a drilling operation by AGIP led to the explosion of an oil well at a depth of 5700 metres,

C.whereas more than 12 000 cubic metres of oil have spilled into the countryside affecting 2500 hectares of rice-fields, an area highly vulnerable to groundwater pollution,

D.whereas the area affected covers 100 square kilometres and the concentration of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere is 1500-3000 hg/Nm3, as opposed to the legal limit of 200 hg/Nm3,

E.whereas Trecate is close to the Ticino nature reserve, in one of the 20 high-risk areas identified by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and whereas, in addition to the Milan-Turin motorway, a high-speed rail link is also due to be built through this area,

F.whereas the accidents in question clearly fall within the category of industrial hazards, the prevention of which is provided for in Directive 82/501/EEC,

G.whereas the failure to apply this directive in Italy has already been brought to the attention of the Commission (Question No. 2312/93), which has opened infringement proceedings,

H.whereas, despite the frequent occurrence of serious accidents of this kind and the abovementioned intervention by the Community, Italy has not only failed to remedy the situation but has, through Article 16 of Decree Law No. 170 of 10 March 1994, nullified all the regulations governing industrial hazards by extending until June 1994 the deadline for providing the information and notification required in order to comply with Directive 82/501/EEC, which was not formally transposed into Italian law until the introduction of Presidential Decree No. 175 of 17 May 1988,

1.Calls for the suspension of drilling operations at the Villafortuna oil-field until such time as emergency plans have been drawn up for the whole area;

2.Requests that the clean-up operation for the areas affected by the accident should be undertaken on the basis of biological principles, by stimulating existing bacteria in the soil capable of attacking and breaking down the oil, and that steps should be taken in line with the directive on environmental impact assessment to identify areas where the polluted soil may be deposited and fresh soil taken so that the land can again be used for farming;

3.Requests that the Joint Research Centre in Ispra be asked to draw up a report on the action and to suggest scientific methods that may be used to avoid jeopardizing the agricultural potential of the areas concerned;

4.Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a directive governing the reparation of environmental damage, including in particular the principle that all activities liable to have serious environmental consequences in the event of an accident must be covered by insurance;

5.Calls on the Commission, pursuant to the Treaty on European Union, to submit proposals for sanctions to accompany the sentences handed down by the Court of Justice and to go ahead with the infringement proceedings being brought against Italy for its failure to apply Directive 82/501/EEC;

6.Calls on the Italian Government not to extend the section of Decree Law No. 170/94 that is in breach of that directive when it expires;

7.Calls on the Italian Parliament not to enact as legislation the section of the abovementioned decree that is in breach of the directive;

8.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, and the Italian Parliament and Government.