‘Protest against Tata Steel Emissions in IJmuiden Draws 150 Participants’

About 150 demonstrators took part in the ‘Together for clean air’ walk in IJmuiden today. The participants left for the head office of Tata Steel Netherlands around 1:30 pm.

The action was organized by groups of local residents and Greenpeace, writes the regional broadcaster NH. The participants carried a garden of green and yellow ribbons, which contained more than a thousand messages from concerned residents of the steel factory. “I am not going to raise my children in the future in IJmuiden because I fear for their health,” was one of those messages.

After about two hours, the procession reached the headquarters of Tata Steel Netherlands in IJmuiden. There, the demonstrators listened to various speeches by, among others, the director of the Lungfonds Károly Illy and environmental researcher Thomas Goorden.

The ribbon was accepted with messages from local residents by Sanne Walvisch, from the local organization FrisseWind.nu. She will soon deliver the messages to the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Micky Adriaansens. Adriaansens is in talks with Tata Steel on behalf of the government about the factory lock-up.

Just before reaching the steel company, Greenpeace activists hung a banner with the text: ‘Tata Steel, we are sick of it’:

According to Tata Steel, the company’s emissions have already declined and will continue to decline. The steel factory says it has the same interest as the demonstrators: a healthier and cleaner living environment. “Everyone benefits from this,” said a statement from Tata Steel.

The company now makes steel from iron ore and coal and wants to convert half to gas (and later hydrogen) by 2030. Tata says it needs significant financial support from the government to achieve this stability.

The outgoing cabinet was announced at the end of last month to provide assistance to make the factory in IJmuiden more sustainable. The situation is that the steel factory must do more in the coming years to combat the disturbance and prevent damage to the health of local residents.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management currently includes one national reporting obligation for the use of steel slag. Outgoing Secretary of State Heijnen decided to do this in response last week at will from the House of Representatives. Steel slag is a byproduct of steel production. They are used to strengthen dikes and earth, but the materials in the steel slag can dissolve and end up in the groundwater, for example.

Animals and plants that live there can then die. Human Environment and Transport Inspectors (ILT) warned about this. In addition, according to the regulator, residents who live in areas where steel slag has been used are known to have experienced health problems such as nosebleeds and burns. msgstr “An application must be functional. So no larger size than necessary is normal.”

Tata Steel says it “supports the call to prevent incidents of misuse. ” A reporting obligation could help with this, says a company spokesperson. “We would like to consult with the various authorities about this to see what the most effective step is.”