The former Ilva plant in the southern city, dogged by decades of environmental and health scandals, was placed under state supervision last month, removing control from operator Acciaierie d'Italia.
Acciaierie d'Italia CEO Lucia Morselli and the site's ex-director Alessandro Labile are under investigation over the levels of cancer-causing chemical benzene the site has emitted, according to the reports.
They are also accused of removing site safety measures, the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno newspaper said.
Labile was director of the site between 2022 and 2023.
The investigation, which was launched after complaints lodged by environmental groups, covers the period since 2018 -- when ArcelorMittal took over the highly toxic site, pledging to clean it up.
Police from an environmental taskforce have seized documents from the factory, which prosecutors will use to determine what steps the company took to try and limit the emissions of benzene.
Benzene occurs naturally in fossil fuels and is also a part of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke. In the steel industries is it produced by coking coal.
Benzene is monitored by the region's environmental protection agency, which has periodically flagged spikes in levels in neighbouring residential areas and warned of increased risks of child cancers.
The steelworks, which dates from the 1960s and is one of Europe's largest, has been dogged by legal and political battles since 2012 over its emissions, with experts linking thousands of deaths to exposure to pollutants.
Now on the edge of bankruptcy, it was placed under temporary state administration to prepare a restructuring while the government seeks new investors.
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