CEO TATA STEEL NETHERLANDS IR. HANS VAN DEN BERG MBA:
GREEN HYDROGEN IN IJMUIDEN BY JAN VINCENT MEERTENS - PHOTOGRAPHY TATA STEEL
T
here are few companies in the Netherlands that have made the front pages as often as Tata Steel in recent months. The sale of the company to the Swedish SSAB came to nothing. Neighbors of the company began to stir and the black snow of early 2021 seemed the straw that broke the camel's back. 1100 neighbors filed charges against "the indomitable monster" for "deliberately causing harm to human and animal health.” Last month the Public Prosecutor decided to start a criminal investigation into the role of the managers. In September 2021, the RIVM published a study that found that in Wijk aan Zee, Beverwijk, Velsen and IJmuiden more metals and other substances were found in the dust that pose risks to public health than outside the IJmond region. A second report early this year indicated that higher concentrations were being measured than would be expected on the basis of environmental annual reports and emission records. The papers point to Tata Steel. Hans van den Berg (19980702) is CEO of Tata Steel Netherlands. Van Verre visits him to hear more about his plans and approach. Hans van den Berg receives me in his office. Informally dressed, friendly box, broad smile. In nothing a man to lead his company through the perfect storm. He became chairman of the Tata Steel Netherlands board on June 1, 2020, in which he was already sitting as operations director. He has been with the company since 1990, but 2021 will not be easy for him to forget. Hans van den Berg stands firm for his company and does not want to run away from all the problems: "we want to be a good neighbor.
We are not now." In any future scenario of Tata Steel, it is not only about the 9,000 jobs, not only about CO2, but also about reducing emissions and improving people's living environment. It just has to be clean. State Secretary Heijnen of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W) is currently answering questions in the House of Representatives. What is your expectation? HvdB: "It is about the RIVM report of late January, part of which we do not understand. We would very much like to talk to the RIVM to find out what the difference is between what we report in terms of emissions and what the RIVM indicates. The discrepancies are so big, that's not possible at all. Something is going on there, but of course the press has already picked up on that. We are completely left out of the commissioning and creation of the RIVM reports. We get the report when it is published and the media gets it 48 hours earlier. I then get a journalist on the phone asking what is going on with the measurements. Of course I didn't know what was in the report so that's a very strange situation. The government and the RIVM want to avoid influence or the appearance of it.
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