SAVONA, Italy, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- At least 400 people were killed by disease caused by emissions from a coal-powered electrical plant in northern Italy, a prosecutor says.
Francantonio Granero, the chief prosecutor in Savona, is investigating Tirreno Power, which could face charges of causing an environmental disaster and manslaughter, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Wednesday. Giovanni Gosio, who resigned recently as the firm's managing director, Pasquale D'Elia, the plant's director, and a third unidentified person have also been targeted.
Granero said a study has shown that toxic emissions were responsible for about 400 deaths between 2000 and 2007 and for as many as 2,000 cases of heart and lung disease between 2005 and 2012.
Tirreno Power released a statement calling the study Granero cited "biased.' The company said it is unclear how exposure to toxic emissions was determined.
