ArcelorMittal Indicted in French Pollution Case

By Anna Peverieri

(Reuters) -ArcelorMittal has been indicted for endangering the lives of others, forgery and environmental damages in connection to industrial pollution in the Fos-sur-Mer region, France, the Marseille public prosecutor's office told Reuters on Tuesday.

The world's second largest steelmaker has been placed under judicial supervision, subject to a 250,000 euro ($270,450) deposit and a 1.75 million euro bank guarantee, the prosecutor's office said in an emailed statement.

The Luxembourg-based group was sued in November 2018 by French environmental NGO Association de Défense et Protection du Littoral du Golfe de Fos (ADPLGF), some 250 local residents, unions and other non-governmental organisations.

They were represented by Julie Andreu, a Marseille environmental lawyer, who filed the complaint.

"ADPLGF welcomes these historic indictments, targeting not only the corporate entity but also single individuals," the NGO said in a press release.

ArcelorMittal "firmly contests the accusations", the Luxembourg-based group said in a statement emailed to Reuters, adding that it "fully cooperates with the authorities responsible for handling complaints filed by residents and environmental associations related to the Fos-sur-Mer site."

The company said it has done "everything possible to ensure that emissions from the Fos-sur-Mer site comply with the prescribed annual limit values. There has been no falsification of data."

It added that "since 2014 it has invested more than 735 million euros, notably to modernize its facilities or innovate to reduce emission levels, whose regulatory thresholds are increasingly stringent."

These actions have allowed ArcelorMittal to reduce atmospheric emissions from the site by 70% compared with 2002, the group added.

($1 = 0.9244 euros)

(Reporting by Anna Peverieri in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi and Richa Naidu)