Steel Manufacturer Tata Steel Wants To Be Able to Temporarily Emit More Harmful Benzene Than is Actually Permitted, because it of its outdated factory parts in IJmuiden is experienced leaks. The Supervisor does not agree and continues to threaten with Millions of Euros in Fines.
At the end of last year, the North Sea Canal Area Environmental Service (ODNZKG) Found that too many toxic substances are coming from both or tata steel’s coking gas plants. The Supervisor Threateded with Millions of Euros in Fines If This Did Not Change Quickly, and is just a calling withdrawing the permit. At the time, the company called the measurements used “incomplete and incorrectly performed.”
Yet it now appears again that the emission of a Harmful Substance is too high at tata steel, this time from the company’s own documents. Coking Gas Plant 1 Emits Up To Twelve Times More Benzene Than Permitted, Accordance to an Application Tata Steel submitted to the Odnzkg. The Company Requested “Customization” to Be Allowed to Emit More of the Carcinogenic Substance In The Coming Years Than Is Permitted Under The Permit.
The Benzene is in The Coking Gas, which is released from coal and is normally used to keep the factory’s ovens at temperature. But in the application, tata writes that unburned benzene can escape from some pipes.
In The Assessment of the Application, which was published on Friday, The Supervisor Writes: “This Means That There Are Currently Leaks in The Installation. The Installation Therefore Shows Defects That Must Be Repaired.” As a result, accordance to the supervisor, tata steel does not meet the “best available techniques” for steel factories. Therefore, Tata Steel Does Not Receive An Exception to the Emission Rules.
Repair Will Take Years
Repairing the Leaks is “Technically very challenging” Because “Time-Consuming and Very Specialized Work” is Required, Tata Steel Writes in the Application. The Entire Project Will Take at Least Two Years, The Steel Manufacturer Thinks. A Spokesperson Says That The Company is Still Investigating Whether Can be Accelerated. “Naturally, we want to reduce our impact as much as possible and emit minimal to no benzene.”
But the supervisor seems to be running out of patience. Earlier This Year, Follow-up Measurements Were Already Carried Out At Tata Steel’s Coking Gas Plants to See How Things Are Now With Emissions. “The results are expected at the end of this year,” Says a spokesperson for the odnzkg. If it turns out that the company continues to emit too much, fines of up to 27 million euros can ultimately be imposed.
Tata Steel Has Objected to the Penalty Payment. In The Meantime, there are also numerous other legal proceedings regarding the factory’s emissions.
At the same time, the company Has Been in Negotiations with the Government for Years About State Aid for Sustainability. The Company Hopes to Be Able to Close One of its blast Furnaces and Coking Plants by 2029 at the latest, but time is running out. It is unclear how the negotiations are progressing now.