Italy ‘violated rights of residents near Naples over refuse crisis’

Residents of the area have long complained about adverse health effects from the dumping, which has poisoned the underground wells irrigating the farmland providing vegetables for much of Italy’s centre and south

People walk past uncollected rubbish in Naples, Italy, in 2010 (Salvatore Laporta/AP)

Italy violated the human rights of residents living in and around Naples by failing to manage a 15-year refuse and pollution crisis that contributed to higher mortality rates from cancer in the area, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled.

The preliminary verdict announced on Thursday from the Strasbourg-based court is the second major one in recent years to find that Italy’s failure to collect, treat and dispose of tonnes of waste in the Campania region adversely affected residents’ personal wellbeing.