The two coking plants of Tata Steel will immediately come under stricter supervision. The regulator, the North Sea Canal Area Environment Agency (ODNZKG), announced this on Tuesday afternoon. The tightening means that Tata Steel must come up with an improvement plan and that the number of violations at the factories must decrease, otherwise new measures will follow.
The coke plants, where the coal (‘coke’ or ‘coke’) for the steelmaking process is pre-processed, are considered the most controversial parts of Tata Steel. The Environment Agency has established that a lot has been going wrong for some time and that intervention is needed: for example, there have been many more ‘unusual incidents’ in the past year than before. These are situations that deviate from normal business operations (but are not necessarily illegal), in which, for example, harmful dust clouds can be released. Tata Steel is obliged to report these incidents and has already received a warning because of the increase.
An example of this is the occurrence of ‘raw coke’: contamination that arises because the coke is not heated evenly. There is an additional conflict about this phenomenon. According to the Environment Agency, raw boils are not allowed: it has already regularly imposed fines of 100,000 euros each time this occurs. According to Tata Steel, raw cokes are unavoidable and are a global phenomenon.
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Furthermore, at the end of 2022 it turned out that the dust measurement equipment at one of the factories was not properly adjusted. A fine has already been imposed for this. The Environment Agency has also filed a complaint against Tata Steel for this violation.
Report
The Environment Agency now requires Tata Steel to provide insight into how it is working on improvement on a monthly basis. In addition, the number of unusual incidents must be reduced. Incidentally, it was already known that the Environment Agency is conducting a legal investigation into the withdrawal of the factory’s permit: in fact a closure.
The two coke factories are relatively old parts of the steel complex in the IJmond. Both are from the 1970s. Interest groups for local residents, such as the Frisse Wind Nu foundation, have been demanding for years that the oldest of the two close immediately. According to Tata Steel, this is not possible without a major impact on the entire steelmaking process.
The Environment Agency decided earlier this year to aim a camera at one of the two coke factories. This is to keep a better overview of the factory’s emissions. Tata Steel filed a lawsuit against the camera surveillance, which it eventually lost.
Action Greenpeace coming
The tightened supervision comes at a striking moment. This Saturday, environmental organization Greenpeace is planning a major campaign at Tata Steel, which is largely aimed at the coke factories. Greenpeace said on Tuesday it was “happy” with the announcement of the ODNZKG, but continued to strive for the closure of these factory parts.
Tata Steel (approximately 9,000 employees) has been under fire for years because of the emissions from the factory. In 2021, RIVM established that quantities of PAHs and lead occur in the vicinity of the factory that could be harmful to children playing. The complex is also responsible for 7 percent of the total CO2emissions from the Netherlands.
Tata Steel, part of the Indian Tata group, usually emphasizes itself that it is working on a set of measures to reduce nuisance and pollution. A large part of this must be carried out this year. In the longer term, Tata Steel wants the CO2reduce emissions by making steel based on hydrogen.