They cannot be counted on two hands, the number of cases or measures against and investigations into Tata Steel. There are and will continue to be questions about the permits, their exceedance, the emission of harmful substances and nitrogen, and the influence of Tata Steel on the public health of the environment. The next report with Tata as the direct object will be published next Thursday. The GGD will then publish its latest IJmond Health Monitor.
Declarations to the Public Prosecution Service
According to the Public Prosecution Service, there are currently four criminal cases against Tata Steel† Although they will take place in this calendar year, no hearing dates have been scheduled yet.
The most famous of those cases is that of criminal lawyer Bénédicte Ficq on behalf of 1,100 people and companies, for ‘deliberately harming public health through pollution’ by Tata Steel and Harsco Metals, the slag processor on the Tata Steel site. That case is still being looked at by the Public Prosecution Service, and Ficq says that he regularly forwards questions, information and findings to the public prosecutor.
About how promising this case is, professor of corporate law at Nyenrode Business University Tineke Lambooy told NH earlier: “In general I can say: all kinds of legal norms point in the same direction. Whether it concerns human rights, national environmental and health law, or the agreements regarding permits: the goal is clean air, clean water and clean soil, so that we can live a pleasant and healthy life.”
Also against Harsco Metals two appeals are still pending† on February 25 the court initially acquitted Harsco, except for a conditional fine of 5.00 euros of debt in graphite rains between 2018 and 2020. The Public Prosecution Service is therefore opposed to that, a spokesperson reported.
Dutch Safety Board (OVV)
The investigation council does not conduct childish investigations: the council only intervenes in the event of disasters, accidents and incidents. This is how Tata Steel has a investigation into the leakage of a large amount of coke gas between 12 and 15 February last year.
In addition, the OVV sometimes conducts larger, broader investigations, such as previously into the approach to the corona crisis, or into the risks of natural gas extraction in Groningen. Such a larger study is also underway in IJmuiden, which is only carried out in the event of, for example, “major (potential) social commotion, or when citizens are exposed to a risk caused by others,” according to the protocol of the OVV.
Also in IJmuiden there has been such a research into ‘risks for local residents due to emissions from industry’† This started in April 2021 with Tata Steel as the subject, but since last December the research has also been expanded to include the industrial complexes of Asfalt Production Nijmegen and Chemours in Dordrecht.
A spokesperson could not say when the OVV will complete its investigations. The council does not provide information about ongoing investigations.
‘The hole’ and other studies by RIVM and GGD
In the past year, RIVM published several reports on air quality in the IJmond (see below) and is currently involved in two new studies.
First, the institute does again dust measurements in the region† In September last year, previous dust measurements made it clear that settled dust contain harmful amounts of PAHs (carcinogens) and lead, especially for children. That is when RIVM concluded for the first time that these substances came from Tata Steel.
For the follow-up study, “we measure before the summer recess and in the autumn”, a spokesperson reported. The province and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management want to find out whether the situation in the IJmond is improving. “But this time there will be no health indication, we are purely looking at the quantities harmful scool.”
The research is not that simple, says the RIVM spokesperson: “The amount of dust that we find strongly depends on the number of incidents on the Tata site, the wind direction and speed. So you cannot immediately determine from such a set of measurements. draw conclusions, if you ask us as RIVM. That is why we do the measurements in two times. If you really want to do it well, you should do it over several years.”
Text continues below the articles about the RIVM reports.
RIVM reports on Tata Steel
RIVM is also involved in another investigation, following the findings of the latest source investigation in the IJmond last January. It became clear that there is a (major) difference between the amount of harmful substances found by RIVM and what that should have been according to the measurements and data from Tata Steel.
on According to the RIVM spokesperson, that gap between the numbers will be “a first reflection” before the summer. A full statement is still pending.
IJmond Health Monitor
The next report on the IJmond and indirectly Tata Steel will be published next Thursday. In the past 12 years, the GGD has conducted research three times ‘into the developments in air quality, the health situation and the use of medicines among residents in the IJmond.’ The third report in the series will be released next Thursdayafter previous publications in 2012 and 2016.
One of the previous findings was that “there is limited evidence that, although air quality is improving, the number of residents with chronic health conditions increases slightly the closer they live to industry in the IJmond.”
Last year, the GGD was discredited after it had deleted the name of Tata Steel from a cancer prevalence study at the direction of director Bert van de Velden. Following his independent investigation into the matter Peter Heskes called that ‘not handy† He concluded that the investigation had proceeded with integrity.
Fines of the ODNZKG
The province monitors Tata Steel’s permits through the North Sea Canal Area Environmental Service. If the company does not comply with this, the ODNZKG can impose a so-called cease and desist order, a conditional fine. Every time ODNZKG observers find a particular violation, Tata has to pay a fine. If it continues to happen, ODNZKG will increase the fine.
There are currently still ten orders subject to penalty payments from, plus another 191 order subject to penalty payments for the fire-safe use of 37 office buildings† Since setting that 191, in August 2020, Tata Steel has actually had to pay a fine thirty times. Last year around the same time, there were seven plus 191 cease and desist orders outstanding at Tata, and two at Harsco.
Of the other ten, four (two at Oxystaalfabriek 4, one at Kooksfabriek 1 and one because of the cooling of rose slag with water on the cooling track) are due to be withdrawn again, because Tata Steel has shown for some time that it operates within the standards. stay. By taking measures, Tata never had to pay the order subject to a penalty at the Kooksfabriek.
In other cases, Tata is doing less well: a penalty payment for ‘bad coke’ that had been outstanding at Kooksfabriek 1 since April last year has now been increased, because the first round of lower fines did not lead to sufficient improvement. ODNZKG believes that the unloading of ships at Buitenkade 2 will also have to be improved. Seven checks since July 28 last year resulted in a fine 5 times. The last one was last May 17, the ODNZKG reports.
All but one of the cease and desist orders were imposed between April 2020 and September 2021. One dates from 2017, but it will likely disappear soon. Two orders for periodic penalty payments that were still outstanding against Harsco last year have also been withdrawn.
Mobilization for the Environment
The environmental consultancy Mobilization for the Environment (MOB) is “roughly working on four projects against Tata Steel”, founder and chemist Johan Vollenbroek said through his spokesperson. Vollenbroek, together with a few others, won the lawsuit against the government’s nitrogen policy in 2019, with major consequences for construction and livestock farming†
First MOB wants Tata Steel’s nature permit related to nitrogen to be revoked† “Tata Steel deposits a huge amount of nitrogen on Natura 2000 sites. It is the largest emitter of nitrogen in the country, so we believe that European legislation requires the permit to be revoked unless the province has a clearly different plan to collect the tax.” this area,” the spokesperson said.
No sinecure
MOB understands that it is a difficult task: “Reducing the load in this area is not an easy task. Will Schiphol close or will almost all farmers in the Dutch polders be expropriated? We do not have the precise figures either, but this is broadly based pretty much the trade-off.”
Secondly, MOB wants that the environmental permits of nitrogen emissions are updated† The spokesperson: “Emissions have increased slightly over the years at Tata Steel, where other polluting industries have achieved significant reductions. The ODNZKG cannot explain this, but is nevertheless convinced that Tata Steel’s installations have become considerably cleaner and comply with all the rules.”
But MOB has doubts: “The impression we have is that nothing has been invested for years, the installations are considerably outdated and do not comply with European regulations. In our procedures, this will be fought out per chimney, whereby we mainly focus on the most important sources. like cooking oven 2.”
Thirdly, the MOB also wants the permits for the emission of substances of very high concern such as PAHs and lead to be updated. Here the spokesperson refers to ‘the gap in the measurement data, which RIVM also describes (see earlier in this article). “Tata Steel is legally responsible for mapping all those emissions,” the spokesperson added. Tata is also working on this together with the RIVM.
Finally, according to the spokesperson, MOB conducts “ongoing research into Tata Steel’s emissions and business processes for the purpose of providing information and supporting local residents.”
Foundations and local residents’ organizations in the IJmond
Various foundations and organizations of local residents from the IJmond (and the surrounding area) fight relentlessly against the influence that Tata Steel has on the environment, nature and people in the region. Sometimes they do this on their own, and sometimes they work together.
The IJmondig, FrisseWind.nu, Schapenduinen and Milieuplatform IJmond IJmuiden foundations have outstanding enforcement requests. In doing so, they ask the ODNZKG to check whether Tata adheres to the standards set. They also want those standards to be tightened. According to the law and their permit, Tata Steel is allowed to emit more of some substances than is desirable according to the World Health Organization.
Sheep Dunes
The Bloemendaal businessman Jan de Jong of the Schapenduinen foundation has no less than twelve WOB requests outstanding† According to the Open Government Act (or since 1 May: Open Government Act (WOO). “These requests will soon serve as evidence for a mass claim.”
Also, together with the IJmondig foundation, he is not yet done with the issue of ISO certification of the Tata Steel site† That’s a safety certification. According to De Jong, this has no longer been applicable to the entire site since 2016, which means that some of the factories are running illegally. A hearing committee ruled differently last yearbut De Jong stands his ground.
dune conservation
The Duinbehoud foundation is also working on a few cases against Tata Steel, chairman Marc Janssen said. For example, the foundation is not even with the construction of an artificial dune at the company. Steel slag would be processed in it.
According to Janssen, it cannot be ruled out in advance that there are no contaminants in the steel slag that pose a risk to the environment. Last May 20, the foundation still submitted a protest against the artificial dune via a so-called ‘viewpoint’.
In addition, almost a year ago the foundation filed a complaint against the executives of Tata Steel ‘for the intentional and unlawful release of harmful substances into the air, soil or surface water, which pose a threat to public health.’
Finally, in response to the RIVM studies, the foundation wants to investigate the influence of the emission of harmful substances such as PAHs and lead on the nature around Tata Steel.