The Dutch Openbaar Ministerie (OM) - Public Prosecution Service - has announced it is to begin litigation against Tata Steel for the graphite rains caused by the blast furnaces around the company's IJmuiden site, the OM has confirmed following a report in de Volkskrant.
Tata Steel, IJmuiden, Netherlands
Tata Steel's facility in IJmuiden, the Netherlands.
The steel giant said in a response that it has not yet received a court summons.
Tata is suspected of being in violation of its environmental permit which states that the dust from the blast furnaces may not be spread further than two metres.
The graphite rains been causing problems in the nearby village of Wijk aan Zee for years. Research by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has already shown that the graphite rains contain "undesirable" amounts of lead, manganese and vanadium.
Children living near the factory would have been exposed to these metals with those playing outside especially at risk. Tata Steel promised to take measures last year to prevent graphite rains from occurring from April of this year.
The "nuisance" caused is one of the reasons for prosecuting the company, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service told de Volkskrant.
Tata Steel was previously ordered to pay a series of penalties due to the graphite rains. The measures the company has taken to date in order to stop the nuisance were described by politicians as "too little".
A spokesperson for Tata Steel said that the intention to sue the company only concerns an incident that occurred on March 1 and 2, 2018. Due to a combination of extreme frost, wind and drought, raw materials were said to have been blown away from the company's storage areas and spread beyond two metres despite precautions taken.
"Tata Steel IJmuiden has cooperated in the investigation of the Public Prosecution Service," said the spokesman. "If the Public Prosecution Service issues a summons, Tata Steel will answer to the judge."
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