1980
February 5, Monza
Paolo Paoletti, 39 years old, company executive

Paolo Paoletti was born in Orbetello, in the province of Grosseto. Emigrating to the North, he settled in Monza due to its proximity to his workplace. Paoletti joined as a technical engineer, responsible for production at the chemical company ICMESA. On July 10, 1976, at 12:37 p.m., a toxic cloud of dioxin was released from the production facilities of the Swiss company ICMESA, in the territory of Meda, affecting a wide area of land in the Brianza lowlands: Meda, Cesano Maderno, Desio, Barlassina, Bovisio Masciago, Nova Milanese, and, in particular, Seveso. Dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals, did not directly cause deaths, but 240 people suffered from chloracne (severe dermatosis), and plants withered due to the dioxin’s strong herbicidal properties, with thousands of contaminated and slaughtered animals. Decontamination lasted for years, and the effects of dioxin compromised the health of over 50,000 residents.

Italy’s worst ecological disaster

The crisis management was secretive and slow to react. The mayor of Seveso was informed by two technicians only the day after. The health officer the day after that. Confirmation of the TCDD release only arrived on July 14. After analyses conducted in the ICMESA laboratory in Switzerland. Management communications remained very cautious. The news only became public a week later. ICMESA only closed on July 18. Already in 1974, the technical director of ICMESA was prosecuted for “polluting and adulterating underground waters intended for consumption, making them dangerous to public health.” After a series of analyses, the Province confirmed the charges, but the director was acquitted due to “insufficient evidence.”
The Seveso toxic cloud is considered the most serious environmental disaster ever to occur in Italy, cited and reported on by international newspapers. What happened prompted the European Union to seek a common policy to prevent and address major industrial risks: in 1982, a directive called the “Seveso Directive” was approved, requiring member states to identify at-risk facilities and establish a series of periodic reports and emergency intervention plans since then.
On February 5, 1980, a commando (composed of Michele Viscardi, Bruno La Ronga, Diego Forastieri, and Giulia Borelli) confronted and killed Paolo Paoletti on the street. The attack was claimed by militants of Prima Linea as part of the campaign on “healthcare,” an act of retaliation against the company executive responsible for the environmental disaster.