🔗 Share this article Where Will a European Manufacturing Facility That Contaminated Drinking Water Go Next? Heading to India The lush tropical forest and rust-red elevations of Lote, located on India’s western shoreline, give way to a small hill where a factory looms against the sky. The factory is almost brand new, but its equipment is not: it originates from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after one of the worst ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for polluting water resources in an area home to 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the Vicenza court of causing environmental pollution and other charges and sentenced to jail, with appeals anticipated. Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes And yet, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to manufacture Pfas – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among villages and wooded areas. And the factory has recently begun to resume PFAS production. An Environmental Burden Once known for its expertise in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found exceptionally elevated levels of Pfas in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been exposed through drinking 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 documented in human blood. “After the facts emerged, I looked at a list of medical conditions associated with Pfas, and discovered I had them all,” states Ermetti. Ex-employee Ilario Ermetti had elevated levels of Pfas in his blood. High levels of Pfas in the bloodstream are linked to higher chances of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure. Public Apprehensions Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing 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 females, our anxiety has increased,” 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 subsidiary of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the public auction. By early 2023, the complete machinery was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its recent purchase to shareholders. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s management downplayed environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “doing everything legally according to EU regulations”. Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in jail. Per a ex-supervisor 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 ecological review for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment. Growth Plans By 2021, Laxmi’s plan explicitly spelled out the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data show that, to get approval on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to companies with previous commercial ties with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC. Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be used in pesticides, pharmaceuticals, colorants, cosmetics and additional goods. Regulatory Context Investigations have shown that levels of forever chemicals in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, especially near manufacturing facilities. But although global focus is growing, in India the matter is not yet a policy priority. “Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in those standards. It’s not recognised by the Indian government as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in different states. But this work are restricted in range, and there are still only a handful.” Regional Consequences Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a poor ecological history”. After it was set up in 1986, “the livelihood 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 not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a common occurrence in rural Maharashtra state, the facility cannot function and industries discharge polluted water straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have issued multiple notices to the plant in recent years. Global Implications In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, import and use of more than 10,000 persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be driving the sector to the global south, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the University of Padua. “I think that this issue should be investigated, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been transferred to a country like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence that these multinationals have to move in nations where there is evidently a race to the bottom in terms of ecological safeguards.” Ongoing Risks Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy continues – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with Pfas production are expected to impact populations that are facing an unsafe environment for generations. “The area has experienced sufficient ecological damage by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s always a risk.”