ACNA (company) explained

National Dyes Company and Affiliates
Trading Name:ACNA
Native Name:Azienda Coloranti Nazionali e Affini
Native Name Lang:it
Industry:Chemical
Fate:Bankruptcy
Predecessor:Società Italiana Prodotti Esplodenti (1906-1925)
Founded: in Saliceto, Piedmont, Italy
Founder:Italgas
Area Served:Italy
Products:organic secondary chemicals, pigments, dyes
Services:Chemical

National Dyes Company and Affiliates (Italian: Azienda Coloranti Nazionali e Affini), more commonly known as the ACNA, was the first Italian chemical company, active from 1929 to 1999 in Cengio (main plant), as well as in Cesano Maderno and Rho, although it traces back to 1882 under different names.[1] [2] The company was best known for the pollution of land and waters related to its production of dyes earning it the nickname of "the poison factory" which would see it brought before the Italian government.[3]

History

ACNA traces it origins to the dynamite factory Dinamitificio Barberi, founded on March 26, 1882, in Cegnio, Italy.[4] [5] The factory would be change hands to the Italian Society of Explosive Products in 1906 and would see their explosives used in conflicts between Italy and Ethiopia War and the Italo-Turkish War.[6] The factory would be retooled in 1908 to produce Sulfuric Acid, Oleum, and TNT, during which the earliest evidence of pollution from the company began to be noticed. The Cengio factory would be taken over by Italgas in 1925 and would later be grouped with the Rho and Cesano Maderno plants to establish the first ACNA, the Associated National Chemical Companies, which began producing dyes.[7] As the Cengio factory began to retool for the production of dyes for the textile industry, the ACNA became the first Italian producer of synthetic dyes.[8]

In 1931, Italgas was forced to sell ACNA to IG Farben and Montecatini who kept the acronym but changed the name to Azienda Coloranti Nazionali e Affini and resumed production of explosives and toxic gases, which were used in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and in Eritrea. ACNA would first be brought to court for damages caused by pollution in 1938.

ACNA would follow Montecatini during their merger to Edison in 1966. After leaving the world of weapons manufacturing, they instead focused on the production of synthetic dyes, notably including fabric dyes such as indigo and naphthylamine.[9] [10]

Environmental Controversy

It was discovered that the long-standing deterioration of the environment surrounding these factories was being caused by ACNA, improperly dumping chemical waste. As a result of this practice, a ground well over 106m3 and up to 20m thick became contaminated, along with substantial contamination of the nearby Bormida river.[11] This would contribute to the creation of the so-called "triangle of death" in Italy, a hotbed of illegal dumping in the country.[12] Regional governments, like that of Piedmont would claim damages caused by ACNA in the aftermath of the findings related to the Bormida Valley.[13]

ACNA's Genoa factory was polluting with chlorinated phenols, producing 48 tonnes of waste for 30 tonnes of product. The Italian Minister of the Environment would even shut down the plant for 6 months in an attempt to improve conditions.[14]

They would additionally be investigated by the Italian Chamber of Deputies under a commission of inquiry headed by Carla Mazzuca Poggiolini.[15] This would be followed by an additional inquiry in 2000 about the waste which would discover 800,000 tonnes of waste in the Pianura landfill stemming from the Cengio factory.[16] [17] [18]

Culture

Books

Movies

External links

References

  1. Web site: July 24, 2011. Da Menarini alle Miniere di Montecatini: il panorama italiano. 2020-08-05. Euchems Torino. it.
  2. Web site: Colombo. Simone. April 2014. Innovation and Italy's Chemicals Industries. aiche.org. AIChE.
  3. Web site: 2019-11-27. Ex Acna, l'eredità mortale della chimica italiana: milioni di scorie tossiche da bonificare. 2020-08-05. Fanpage.it. it-IT.
  4. Web site: 1929 - ACNA AZIENDE CHIMICHE NAZIONALI ASSOCIATE - 5 AZIONI - MILANO. 2020-07-27. Scripofilia. en.
  5. Sgariboldi. Francesca. Fenoglio. Stefano. Bo. Tiziano. Cucco. Marco. Cossa. Paolo. Malacarne. Giorgio. 2007. Comparazione di dati chimici e faunistici provenienti da campionamenti realizzati in Val Bormida (Piemonte). Studi Trent. Sci. Nat., Acta Biol. it. 83. 71–75. Researchgate.
  6. Book: Boca, Angelo Del. I gas di Mussolini: il fascismo e la guerra d'Etiopia. 2007. Editori riuniti. 978-88-359-5859-8. it.
  7. Web site: Aziende Chimiche Nazionali Associate • Titolo finanziario storico • Scripomuseum. 2020-09-23. Scripomuseum. 19 September 2016 . it-IT.
  8. FAURI. FRANCESCA. 2000. The "Economic Miracle" and Italy's Chemical Industry, 1950—1965: A Missed Opportunity. Enterprise & Society. 1. 2. 279–314. 10.1093/es/1.2.279. 23699775. 1467-2227.
  9. Capanna. Saverio. 2015. L'ACNA di Cengio nel contesto dell'industria chimica italiana (1931-1999). it.
  10. Web site: Mcclure. Kathryn Raeburn. 2020-12-21. Development of new extraction methods for analysis of natural and synthetic organic colourants from historical and artistic matrices. 2021-06-25. dspace.uevora.pt.
  11. di Domenico. A.. De Felip. E.. Ferri. F.. Iacovella. N.. Miniero. R.. di Tella. E. Scotto. Tafani. P.. Baldassarri. L. Turrio. 1992-08-01. Determination of the composition of complex chemical mixtures in the soil of an industrial site. Microchemical Journal. Proceedings of the V Italo-Hungarian Symposium on Spectrochemistry: Quality Control and Assurance in Life Sciences. en. 46. 1. 48–81. 10.1016/0026-265X(92)90023-V. 0026-265X.
  12. Web site: January 28, 2013. Italy's environmental disaster equals an HIV epidemic IRPI. 2020-08-19. irpi.eu.
  13. Web site: Tezzo. Mauro. 2011-04-01. La Regione Piemonte chiederà al governo un risarcimento danni per l'Acna di Cengio. E la Liguria?. 2020-09-23. Savonanews.it. it-IT.
  14. Web site: Mackenzie. Debora. Hallenstein. Dalbert. August 19, 1989. Italy learns to live with its environmental activists. 2020-08-14. New Scientist. en-US.
  15. Web site: XII Legislatura della Repubblica italiana / Commissione monocamerale d'inchiesta sulla vicenda dell'Acna di Cengio / Organi / Camera dei deputati - Portale storico. 2020-08-19. storia.camera.it. Italian Parliament.
  16. Web site: Commissione sul ciclo dei rifiuti. 2020-08-19. www.camera.it. Italian Parliament.
  17. Web site: March 29, 2000. Doc. XXIII n. 40. 2020-08-19. www.camera.it. Italian Parliament.
  18. Web site: Bonini. Carlo. January 22, 2008. Anche i fanghi dell'Acna di Cengio tra i veleni sepolti sotto quella collina - cronaca - Repubblica.it. 2020-08-19. www.repubblica.it.
  19. Book: Hellmann, Alessandro. Cent'anni di veleno. Il caso Acna. L'ultima guerra civile italiana. 2005. Alessandro Hellmann. 978-88-7226-894-0. it.
  20. Web site: Il Caso ACNA: Storie di Lotte e Ordinari Inquinamenti (2005), di Fulvio Montano - CinemaItaliano.info. 2020-07-27. su CinemaItaliano.info. it.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "ACNA (company)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.