National and local government should be doing a better job of protecting citizens against harmful emissions from industry, the Dutch safety board OVV said in a new report.

The OVV began its investigation following complaints by residents about Tata Steel in IJmuiden, the Chemours chemicals plant near Dordrecht and Nijmegen factory Asfalt Productie.

Locals have been complaining for years about the impact of emissions from the plants but have largely been ignored by national and local government, the OVV said.

Too often complaints are answered by saying ‘the company has the required permits,’ the OVV said. Locals have now developed a ‘tangible mistrust’ of both industry and government.

However, ‘it is not always enough to ensure that exposure to harmful emissions remains low,’ the OVV said. ‘Any emissions that remain following technical intervention are now considered safe, unless it is demonstrated that they are unsafe.’

Legal minimum

The three companies at the centre of the investigation do little more than the legal minimum to reduce harmful emissions and only carry out research on the health impact of their processes when people complain, the OVV said.

In addition, the agency said, local government and regulators have too little expertise and capacity to be able to react properly, and do not know how to respond when locals make complaints.

In particular, local government and regulators should make more use of the existing system of granting permits, supervision and enforcement to better protect the health of local residents.