European court says Italy violated rights of residents near Naples over garbage crisis

ROME (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights has found Italy violated the human rights of residents living in and around Naples by failing to manage a 15-year garbage and pollution crisis. The verdict announced Thursday is the second major one in recent years finding that Italy’s failure to collect, treat and dispose of tons of waste in the Campania region adversely affected residents’ personal well-being. Residents of the area have long complained about adverse health effects from the dumping, which has poisoned the underground wells that irrigate the farmland which provides vegetables for much of Italy’s center and south. Studies commissioned by the government have found higher mortality rates from cancer in the region.