From her balcony, Ángela Menéndez looks out over her plot, full of grass, trees and plants. An idyllic setting if it weren’t for what lies beyond. “I look out the window and see Mordor,” says this 77-year-old Asturian. is what the residents of the western area of Gijón call , since its mountains of coal and its chimneys burning so close remind them of the dark and fictional territory of . It is not strange, since according to data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, in the period of 2007 and 2022 the industrial facility – which includes several sites between Gijón and Avilés – was the second in Spain that caused the most emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) —gas that drives climate change—, as well as the largest emitter of suspended particles (PM10), and the largest emitter of sulfur dioxide (SOx) and nitrogen dioxides (NOx). —three polluting substances harmful to health—.
Residents report that these particles generate dust that sticks to the magnets and darkens the solar panels, which in many cases stop working after a few months. The International Institute of Law and Environment () has taken the Principality of Asturias to court for authorizing the site to pollute more than permitted. The Asturian Government responds that the company is making investments that will improve air quality, while the City Council points out that the legal limits are not exceeded in the case of particles, the most harmful to health. The company, where it claims to employ more than 5,000 people, has installed a new chimney with a more powerful filter and aims to reduce CO₂ emissions by 35% in 2030.
For the neighbors who live next door, CO₂ is the least important thing (because although it causes climate change, it is not a harmful gas if you breathe it). “That you have a house this beautiful and you have to be locked inside all day because you can’t open the windows…” Menéndez complains bitterly. To demonstrate this, he approaches the solar panels that he installed on the ground of his farm. They are completely black. “They are useless, a layer of sediment is placed on top of them that is very difficult to remove and they do not work,” he continues. With the help of a scraper, try to remove a small part. There is no way. “When my husband was alive, we tried to scratch the coat often, but it was very difficult and after two months it would appear again. My daughter tried to put up a greenhouse and had to give it up because the plastic had to be changed often. And this dust is what we are breathing. “The steel industry is taking years of my life,” he denounces.
That dust is everywhere: on the tiles, on the windows, on the floor. Pilar Hevia, Ángela’s neighbor, takes a broom and begins to sweep the porch, full of black and reddish particles. Next, hold a magnet close to the collector: most of the particles stick to it. “In a month at my house, which is nearby, I take out a can of powder like this that must weigh a kilo. This is in the trees, in the plants, in the soil, and in our lungs,” laments Hevia, 59 years old.
This woman claims that her 22-year-old son has had asthma for 15 years. Ángela Tercia: “My 10-year-old grandson has also just been diagnosed with asthma, and the pediatrician has told my daughter that she is overflowing with cases. similar.” In fact, according to data from 2016 to 2018 from the Principality collected by , the residents of the western area of Gijón are the most affected in the city by respiratory diseases. Meanwhile, the city council has commissioned the University of Oviedo this year to investigate pollution and admissions due to cardiorespiratory diseases (there are still no results).
Both neighbors are part of the , which brings together groups, unions and environmentalists and asks the administrations to reduce pollution in this area of the Asturian city. Inés Prada, 64, is also there: “ArcelorMittal is an industry that provides many jobs and has a lot of power, but we demand that the Administrations enforce the regulations for an industry that is anchored in the 20th century.”
Complaint to the Principality
The Iidma, an environmental law NGO, has denounced the Principality for being lax with ArcelorMittal, and this despite the fact that it receives euros from European Next Generation funds for a decarbonization project, as confirmed by Ecological Transition. According to these environmental lawyers, with this help the company committed to building – direct iron reduction, in English – to replace a blast furnace and a sinter – the most polluting parts – with green hydrogen, as well as a hybrid electric arc furnace powered with renewables. It also included the installation of a bag filter “which would have led to an improvement in the levels of suspended particles,” according to the NGO’s version.
“The company is backing out of the construction of the DRI plant for economic reasons, saying that due to energy costs it is currently not profitable, and the Principality is allowing it,” comments an environmental engineer from Iidma in front of the factory. —organization that paid for this journalist’s trip to see the situation first-hand. The Superior Court of Justice of Asturias confirms that the complaint is admitted for processing and the investigation is in a first phase, collecting reports and evidence.
A spokesperson for the Principality refuses to comment on a judicialized matter, but explains its actions with the factory: “The installation of the bag filter in sinter B was a measure included in an action plan from March 2021. In October of that year, the company requested to modify the content […] replacing the bag filter with two alternative measures […] whose effects on improving air quality in the western area of Gijón have been considered equivalent.”
It involves “the construction of a 60-meter-high chimney to facilitate the dispersion of emissions and improve air quality, and the installation of a system for capturing and filtering particles from the sinter cooler A, an investment not previously provided.” Furthermore, “the positive effect that the planned closure of sinter B and a blast furnace at the Veriña plant will have on air quality is evident,” concludes the Principality.
ArcelorMittal also prefers not to assess a judicialized matter, and refers to the information posted on its website. They explain: “Steel is one of the sectors that presents the most difficulties in reducing its emissions, since it generates large energy inputs, traditionally from carbon-intensive fuels.” Its objective is to reduce the intensity of carbon emissions by 35% by 2030 and be neutral in 2050.
Regarding pollution, they point out that they have installed in sinter A “a system of suction hoods that captures the dust from the area where it is generated and sends it to a new bag filter, to reduce these particles prior to their emission through a newly built chimney [la de 60 metros]. “As a result, diffuse emissions have been drastically reduced when captured by the new system. The maximum concentration of particles in the chimney emission of the new system is less than 10 mg/Nm3 [miligramos por metro cúbico en condiciones normalizadas de presión y temperatura]″, notes the company.
“The industry has its negative side, of course, but it also provides work. “I prefer to have the industry nearby and for the strictest standards of environmental quality to be met,” Alejandro Navajas, Environment Director of the Gijón City Council, indicates in his office. “We understand the neighbors’ concern, I also see the factory from my house. But the limits of PM10 particles [las más dañinas] “They are improving: last year the legal limit was exceeded by 31 days, without reaching the 35 days established by law to speak of annual non-compliance.”
Both the Consistory and the Principality have protocols for episodes of high pollution that are activated after three days with the particles released and can request the factory to reduce its activity. Meanwhile, the Ombudsman “that in the air quality plans that are subsequently approved within the autonomous community the corrective measures for atmospheric pollution provided for in the previous one and that exceptionally and justifiably have not been executed ”.
All of this sounds like talk to Ángela Menéndez, who looks sadly at the factory from her home: “I was born in this area and I am already many years old, but I would like to go live somewhere else because I am seeing the suffering of my grandson.” with asthma. He is 10 years old and has his whole life ahead of him. Years go by, they make investments and promises and we remain the same. We need the administrations to protect us.”
