A legal dispute over whether Europe's biggest steel plant has to halt production in a clamp-down on pollution is witnessing a fierce stand-off in Italy's economic and political world. Prosecutors in...Taranto...ordered...ILVA...to partially halt production in its main plant to stop an "environmental catastrophe"...Moreover, several company executives have been put under house arrest under charges of complicity in creating an environmental disaster. The case was opened after a local study conducted over several years demonstrated that the area surrounding the plant suffered from a mortality excess up to 15 percent, due to fumes and dust particles causing cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases...ILVA Chairman Bruno Ferrante said that the order to halt production would have a very negative impact on the whole supply chain.