Around a hundred divers and anglers held a protest in the southern Dutch province of Zeeland on Sunday. They hung banners from the Zeeland Bridge and chanted slogans.

They are opposed to the government's plan to use steel slag to reinforce the underwater dykes at ten locations along the banks of the Oosterschelde waterway.
 

The Oosterschelde, an inlet of the North Sea, was made a national marine park in 2002 because of its rich and varied underwater flora and fauna. It is also one of the most popular areas in the Netherlands for recreational diving and fishing.
 

The protesters say the use of aggregate from steel furnaces could easily cause enormous environmental damage and drastically reduce biodiversity. The use of steel slag in Haarlemmer Lake in 2001 caused massive fish deaths and seriously disrupted the ecology in waterways in Hoogezand-Sappemeer, Hoorn and Akkrum in 2005.
 

However, the Ministry of Transport and Water Management points out that these were all fresh water locations. Little is known about the effect of steel slag in salt water. That, the protesters say, is the very reason they have written to the provincial authorities demanding an Environmental Impact Report.