🔗 Share this article Where Does a Western Manufacturing Facility Which Polluted Drinking Water Go Next? Heading to India The dense tropical forest and rust-red hills of Lote, situated along India’s west coast, give way to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands under the open sky. This industrial unit is largely newly built, but its equipment is far from new: it originates from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the nation’s modern record: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the company’s management was prosecuted for polluting water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and additional offenses and given prison sentences, which they are expected to appeal against. What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed? Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its patents and processes – all required components to manufacture forever chemicals – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, wedged between local communities and wooded areas. And the factory has just started to resume PFAS production. A Toxic Legacy Once known for its specialism in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated concentrations of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been exposed through drinking water. The most impacted were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, displayed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS ever recorded in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, 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 bloodstream are associated with increased risk of cancer, heart conditions, organ impairment, reproductive disorders and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation. Community Concerns Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, started organizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she found out that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned. “As mothers, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.” Corporate Transition Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a subsidiary of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the public auction. By the start of 2023, the complete machinery was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting its new acquisition to shareholders. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s management minimized ecological worries, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with EU regulations”. Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity founded in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and financial misreporting at the June trial and given six years and four months in prison. According to a former mid-level manager requesting confidentiality, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the firm’s collapse. Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals compatible with Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment. Strategic Expansion 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 fluorochemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to get approval on the quality of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out samples to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC. From the beginning of 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, producing chemicals that will be utilized for pesticides, medicines, colorants, cosmetics and other products. Environmental Oversight Investigations demonstrate that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, particularly around production sites. But although global focus is increasing, in India the matter is not yet a policy priority. “If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent in such guidelines. It’s not recognised by the Indian government as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in various regions. But this work are limited in scope, 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 dismal environmental track record”. After it was set up in 1986, “the livelihood of fisher folk communities in this region completely collapsed,” she said. The industrial area is served by 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. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the facility fails to operate and industries release contaminated effluent straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent multiple notices to the plant in recent years. International Ramifications In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is reviewing a plan to prohibit the manufacture, importation and utilization of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This attention may be pushing the sector to the global south, per Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the academic institution. “I think that this matter should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been relocated to a nation like India should prompt consideration, minimally, on the influence that these global corporations have to move in countries where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of ecological safeguards.” Ongoing Risks Miteni has closed 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 already struggling with an hazardous setting for years to come. “The area has seen enough environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s always a risk.”