The Civil Court of Turin sentenced the Ministry of Defense for the death of a soldier exposed to asbestos without protections. This sentence highlights a systemic problem in personnel safety and strengthens the need for urgent reclamation and recognition of institutional responsibilities
“This is the umpteenth sentence, in civil, condemnation of the defense for the disease and the death of a military military person for the high and unwilling exposure to fiber and asbestos powders in the naval units and in the arsenalization bases” . The lawyer Ezio Bonannipresident of theNational Asbestos Observatory (ONA)thus commented on the outcome of the trial, underlining the seriousness of the problem.
The Civil Court of Turin has imposed compensation of about 280 thousand euros to Monica Pittau, orphaned by the naval motorist Luigi Angelo Pittau, who died at only 60 years of a pleural mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos.
This case reports attention to the dangerous exhibition of the military to the so -called “Fibra Killer” during the service in the armed forces and the urgency of starting remediation in contaminated places.
The Pittau case
Luigi Angelo Pittau has worked in saturated saturated environments, both aboard the Naval Units of the Navy and in the arsenalty bases, dealing with the maintenance of boilers and steam turbines. In 2009 the doctors diagnosed him with a mesothelioma, a highly aggressive disease and closely linked to the inhalation of asbestos fibers.
In just over a year, in October 2010, the pathology caused its death. In 2019, the Turin Court of Appeal obliged the Ministry of Defense to recognize him as the victim of duty with equation, thus opening the way to the subsequent legal action intended by his daughter.
Monica Pittau considered the Ministry responsible not only for the exposure of the father to asbestos and other carcinogenic agents but also for the failure to information on the connected risks, the absence of health surveillance and the failure to supply protective devices.
Assisted by the lawyer Ezio Bonanni, he brought the case before the Civil Court of Turin, who recognized both the damage suffered by the victim and that of his daughter, imposing economic compensation to the Ministry.
Asbestos in the armed forces: a systemic problem
The lawyer Bonanni highlighted how this sentence is added to numerous other civil sentences imposed on the Ministry of Defense, reporting a systemic problem in the management of military personnel safety. The compensation, although insufficient to fill the loss of a lifetime, represents an important affirmation of institutional responsibilities and could constitute a precedent for future similar causes.
Founded fears of a significant increase in cases in the coming years
According to the VII Renam report, since 1993 over 2 thousand cases of mesothelioma have been recorded among the workers in the maritime and defense sector, with almost half concerning military. Among the staff of the Marina There are about 190 asbestos -related tumors, of which 94 cases of mesothelioma and 96 of other forms of cancer. The long latency of these pathologies makes a significant increase in cases fear in the coming years.