How much hydrochloric acid can the ICL factory emit? This is stated in the environmental permit that the municipality has provided to ICL. It may be a maximum of 30 mg/nm3 (milligram per cubic meter), which would amount to a total of 4.2 kilos of hydrochloric acid per hour.
In measurements that the North Sea Canal Area (OD) Environment Agency, responsible for supervision and enforcement of the environmental standards in Amsterdam and the surrounding area, it appeared that ICL does not meet these emission standards. In October 2023, according to the OD, the emissions were 658 mg/nm3. During a measurement a year later, in October 2024, the OD arrived at 736 mg/nm3. That is about 22 and 25 times as much as allowed. The province of Noord-Holland, which includes the OD, has imposed ICL a penalty of 125,000 euros.
In a hearing of the Hearing and Advisory Committee (HAC) of the province, ICL, through their lawyer Arjen, explains why the company objects to the penalty. It is a legal issue, says Talk on Thursday morning in a chic room in the provincial government. Has a violation been found? Is there indeed more than 4.2 kilos of hydrochloric acid per hour from the ICL chimney?
To determine that, proper research is needed. And according to ICL, the research of the OD is not good.
Drop -catcher
KW3, the company that has carried out the measurements, did not follow the regulations according to ICL. The concentration of hydrochloric acid that KW3 found in the condensed water in the chimney has not been corrected for the deduction of the hydrochloric acid that is collected just before the end of the chimney.
That capture is done by the so -called drop catcher. The OD stated twice that it does not work properly. In 2015, the drop catcher filtered out only 41 percent of the hydrochloric acid. In 2025 it would only be 1 percent.
But ICL does not agree with the claim that the drop catcher would not work properly, although talk is not further substantiated why not. Talk does say that the OD cannot say anything about the actual hydrochloric acid emissions on the basis of those efficiency percentages. That is precisely why talks, the OD therefore keeps the necessary success around the arm: the OD report calls it ‘plausible’ that ICL still swings a lot of hydrochloric acid into the air. In short: there is therefore no question of an unmistakable, obvious violation of the duty of care – another central point of twist between the OD and ICL.