The Tata Steel factories in IJmuiden still seem to produce too many heavy metals and high concentrations of lead. stoten.Er heavily contaminated dust continues to descend into nearby villages. RIVM does not see any clear progress in measurements compared to 2020.
In those previous measurements, the RIVM warned that the harmful substances that descend into the environment of Tata Steel are especially very harmful for young children.
In the re-conducted study, the result is somewhat better. For example, slightly fewer iron particles were found and measured concentrations of harmful substances in Wijk aan Zee were somewhat lower than two years ago. But in Beverwijk, more harmful substances were found. Relatively much lead was found in Velsen and IJmuiden.
According to the RIVM, this may be due to differences in weather conditions during the measurements. In other villages in the area, too, an increase and a decrease in harmful substances have been recorded at one time and the other. That is why RIVM does not comment strongly on whether emissions have increased or decreased.
Tata Steel recently claimed that the company has managed to halve its emissions of highly harmful substances (PAHs) since 2019. This does not seem to be immediately apparent in the dust particles found by RIVM in the surrounding area.
‘The living environment really needs to be cleaner, safer and healthier’
North Holland wants to see more improvements. However, the province has the hope that newly discussed measures will have an effect in the long term. State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (infrastructure and Water Management) also calls for repeated research, she writes in a letter to the House. “We are closely monitoring the results of the improvement measures. Because the living environment around Tata Steel really needs to be cleaner, safer and healthier.”
Tata Steel itself emphasizes that it is working hard to improve:
“Every day we do our best to further reduce the impact of our factories on the living environment.”
In a response, KWF Kankerbestrijding called it worrying that a lot of dust with carcinogens still descends in the environment of Tata Steel.
“Tata residents have the right to a healthy living environment,” a spokesman said. If the next round of Investigations shows that there is still no reduction, the organization is counting on “accelerated measures to reduce emissions of those substances”.
Maurice Esma, a co-founder of EconomicInform is a freelance journalist with the expertise in international finance and corporate rights. The author can be reached by email maurice.eisma@economicinform.com
