When he realizes how many of his colleagues are sick or deceased, Jos Kortekaas (73) can only say that he was lucky. Almost forty years in Tata Steel’s coke gas factory, one of the most polluting parts of the factory, and as healthy as a fish. Which of his Tata Steel peers can repeat that? “If you know all the harmful substances that are released in that factory, it is a miracle that I am still there.”
Kortekaas, born and raised in Velsen-North under the smoke of Tata Steel, has just made it GGD report about the health of the people in the IJmond. The conclusions drawn therein confirm to him what he already suspected: that the air in the IJmond may have become slightly cleaner in recent years, but that it is better to live as far away from the steel factory as possible.
The closer to Tata Steel, the worse it gets. It is logical that nitrogen and particulate matter especially settle in the immediate vicinity, but it is only natural that the people living there more often have cardiovascular diseases.
“All those dead and sick. I can’t prove it, but I strongly suspect that there is a relationship with Tata Steel”
Kortekaas: “Another report, nice. Only, let them really do something about it! It is as if your roof is leaking, you measure how much water comes down, but does not go up to repair the roof. ” He notes that he cannot prove that the people around him have died or developed cancer as a result of working in the coke gas factory. “But if you know what toxic substances we were dealing with there, I have a strong suspicion. Benzene and PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) are dangerous substances with a view to cancer.”
Nearly nine years after his retirement, he is sometimes asked why he didn’t resign knowing that he was doing his job in a toxic environment. Kortekaas: “It was my task to carry out the maintenance of the factory as well as possible. However, there was sometimes a lack of budget to do that. Nevertheless, it was my job to keep coke gas factory 2 in good condition. you only start to realize after a while. Only after a while did I realize that that black mess on your work clothes is not healthy. Tata Steel has contributed to that realization by taking more and more measures.”
One big yellow gas cloud
No, it is no longer as unhealthy as it was when he started at (then) the Koninklijke Hoogovens. “In 1972 the coke gas factory was, as it were, one big yellow gas cloud. The situation has improved over all those years, but you also have to keep an eye on the incidents in which harmful substances are released. There are still plenty of them. Here from Velsen-Noord I can can’t observe it, but nowadays there is a camera permanently on the company and those images show that things regularly go wrong.”
Kortekaas is pleased with Tata’s 300 million investment in more environmentally friendly steel production. However, he makes a caveat. It should have happened sooner. “It was only under pressure from public opinion that money started to be invested in improvements, thanks to the people in Wijk aan Zee and IJmuiden, who suffer the most, and the press.”
“A lot has changed for the better in the coke gas factories”
In a response, Tata Steel says that the picture of the coke gas factories as described by Jos Kortekaas does not correspond to the current situation. “A lot has changed for the better in recent years. Tata Steel continues to invest in improving the factories and installations.”