Suzanne Klaassen
It is afternoon, and we sit in a small office in the Beverwijk town hall. Outside, activity fills the corridors — footsteps, voices, doors closing.
Suzanne Klaassen sits opposite me, dressed entirely in black, already prepared for the photo session afterwards. A spokesperson sits beside her, quiet and attentive.
On the cabinet behind her lies the report Wijmond by Urgenda.
“That’s valuable work,” she says. “It shows there are more possibilities than people often think.”
Klaassen has been an alderman for just over a year. She lives in Haarlem and grew up near Schiphol, under the constant turbulence of departing planes.
Now, in Beverwijk — “Tata-town” — she is responsible for Environment, Health and Economy.
Conflicting interests in one portfolio.
“It’s an intense job,” she says, “but also incredible. With Tata Steel, no day is the same.”
She speaks calmly, weighing her words.
“Formally, we are not responsible for permits or enforcement — that lies with the province. But the license to operate is local.
Without support here, there is no support in The Hague.”
It sounds almost like a warning.
The municipal position has long been ambivalent. Not long ago, motions supporting the steel plant passed almost unanimously. But in recent years, opposition has grown — also within city hall.
“There is room for Tata,” she says, “but only if it becomes cleaner. Transition does not mean space for new pollution. We want less — not more.”
Tata highlights improvements — filters, repairs, measures. But Klaassen does not yet see the results reflected in measurements.
“That is disappointing.”
“As long as a factory does not replace its installations, it does not have to meet modern environmental standards. The law looks at what was considered ‘best available technique’ when it was built. If nothing is replaced for twenty years, twenty-year-old standards still apply.”
Old technology remains legal.
Slowly, things began to move. The municipality makes more frequent use of its advisory role in permitting. At the provincial level, she sees how applications are tested against legal standards. And that is where the tension lies.
“A factory from the 1960s is still being tested against the rules from back then. If Tata says something is technically not possible, then they don’t have to do it.”
Then there is Aagtenpark.
Her voice lowers.
Beneath the green surface lies an old landfill, covered with steel slag. Deep below, a benzene plume moves slowly through groundwater toward a residential area. Benzene is carcinogenic.
Previous administrations saw an opportunity: cheap material, cheap park.
Now, the consequences emerge.
“We are working on a remediation plan,” she says. Drainage, removal, treatment — costing millions.
The use of steel slag is now largely banned nationally.
Beverwijk was the first municipality to prohibit it.
“It’s a Tata product,” she says.
“So it’s their responsibility to ensure it is safe.”
At the end of the conversation, she relaxes slightly.
“My biggest concern?
That there will be no agreements with The Hague — and the company will simply continue as before.”
She looks up.
“This is the moment.
If Tata delivers on its green plans, there is space for the company. If not — it’s over.
Then the license to operate is gone.”