A group of environmental groups have filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to object a Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor air permit.
According to a news release, the groups believe the permit “failed to satisfy many basic requirements” of the Clean Air Act, including sufficient monitoring, testing and reporting requirements.
“U.S. EPA needs to step in here to ensure that community members in Northwest Indiana are not exposed to even more unnecessary and illegal levels of air pollution,” Matt Lopez, associate attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said in a statement. “This region is already subject to highly concentrated pollution resulting in some of the highest cancer and respiratory disease rates in the county. IDEM has a duty to ensure that every permit complies with the baseline protections provided by the Clean Air Act, but the agency has failed to do that for this Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor permit. EPA must use its oversight authority to ensure the facility implements critical monitoring provisions required by the Clean Air Act.”
According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, IDEM issued the air permit on July 6. The groups filed their petition on Aug. 21.
The groups are also concerned that the permit didn’t include corrective action plans, an operation and maintenance plan, and preventative maintenance plan, which are standard requirements for a Clean Air Act operating permit.
In addition to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Environmental Integrity Project, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, Just Transition Northwest Indiana and Faith in Place signed on to the petition.
“Area residents are being denied full health and environmental protection under the Clean Air Act,” GARD President Dorreen Carey said in a statement. “As written, the IDEM permit does not include key monitoring and testing needed to confirm compliance with required emissions limits. EPA and IDEM need to do their jobs to provide (Northwest) Indiana communities the highest level of protection.”
In a statement Friday, Allen Carter, IDEM spokesman, said the agency doesn’t have a comment on the substance of the complaint “as the matters are under review” by the EPA. The petition doesn’t impact the validity or enforceability of the permit, he added.
“Cleveland-Cliffs’ operating permit was determined by the agency to meet all applicable state and federal requirements and was subject to review by U.S. EPA before issuance,” Carter said in the statement. “The U.S. EPA did not object to the issuance during the respective 45-day review period.”
According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Burns Harbor location is Cleveland-Cliffs’ second-largest integrated steel mill in the U.S. It processes up to five million tons of raw steel annually, and its coke ovens, blast furnaces and sinter plant operations emit tons of air pollutants across the region.
In a study from Just Transition Northwest Indiana and Carnegie Mellon University, the Burns Harbor plant was found to contribute to 123.7 deaths and $1.7 billion in damages annually. The plant brought the most damage, with 53% of total damage on air quality and public health from 20 industrial facilities, according to Post-Tribune archives.
The Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor facility in East Chicago was third, contributing to 15% of damages, with 35.5 deaths and $496 million in damages annually, according to Post-Tribune archives.
“Yet again, we’re fighting another flawed air permit for one of the Midwest’s dirtiest polluters, this time at Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor,” JTNWI Executive Director Ashley Williams said in a statement. “… Our communities cannot continue to shoulder this unabated harm, especially as a presidential exemption now threatens to gut Clean Air Act requirements for this mill and numerous others, deepening the historic toll of environmental injustice in Northwest Indiana.”
A Cleveland-Cliffs spokesperson was unable to immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the steel company previously responded to JTNWI and Carnegie Mellon’s study, saying there’s a “coordinated effort to destroy and dismantle” the U.S. steel industry.
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According to Post-Tribune archives, the company previously said it contributed “hundreds of millions of dollars” in state and local taxes and invests in workforce development and community programs.
“Cleveland-Cliffs is more than a steel company – it is a pillar of American manufacturing and a critical supplier to the automotive industry and other essential sectors,” the statement said. “Let’s not forget what is at stake. If the steel mills disappear, the good-paying union jobs disappear and the tax base that funds our schools, public safety, and local services shrinks. Small businesses close. Families leave. Entire communities pay the price.”