The European Court of Human Rights condemned the Italian state today for its inaction regarding the dumping of toxic waste by the Naples mafia. Judges in Strasbourg granted Italy two years to implement a corrective strategy.

The case was brought by 41 Italian citizens and five associations, who accuse the Italian state of failing to protect them from the toxic waste dumping responsible for the high cancer rates in their region.

“The Italian state did not address the seriousness of the situation with the necessary diligence and speed, despite being aware of the problem for many years,” reads the Court’s statement.

In a unanimous ruling, the judges gave Italy two years “to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the situation, establish an independent monitoring mechanism, and create a public information platform.”

A region between Naples and Caserta has been called the “land of fires” due to illegal dumping sites where uncontrolled industrial waste burns, and has also been referred to as the “triangle of death” or the “antechamber of hell.”

This area, home to three million people, has been suffering from decades of pollution, with heavy metals and toxic microparticles contaminating the soil, air, and water.

In 1997, a repentant mafioso informed the Italian parliament about large-scale illegal hazardous waste dumping in the area, which had been occurring at least since 1988. As recently as 2013, the parliament passed a decree to officially define the “land of fires.”

Since then, multiple parliamentary committees have confirmed the apathy, and even complicity, of the Italian administration, the lack of action, and the detrimental health consequences for residents, including a rise in cancer cases and birth deformities.

The link between pollution and cancer was officially recognized in 2021 by the National Institute of Health.