Environmentalists are petitioning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in objection to an air permit Indiana recently renewed for the Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor Works steel mill in East Chicago.
Environmental and community groups contend the Indiana Department of Environmental Management failed to require the monitoring, testing and recordkeeping that would ensure the steel mill in Indiana Harbor on Lake Michigan is complying with the Clean Air Act.
“If this permit is approved as is, the Cleveland-Cliffs facilities will likely release harmful emissions into the air including PM10 ultrafine particulate matter and nitrous oxide above the limitations set by the Clean Air Act," Environmental Law & Policy Center Associate Attorney Ellis Walton said. "The communities of East Chicago and Gary suffer many environmental injustices already and shouldn’t be forced to bear even more harms from local industry."
IDEM issued the permit for Cleveland Indiana Harbor East and West, the former Inland and LTV steel mills. It covers Cleveland-Cliffs and a number of on-site contractors, including Beemsterboer Slag Corp., Cokenergy, Fritz Enterprises, Indiana Harbor Coke Company, Holcim, Oil Technology, Phoenix Global and TMS International, as well as operations like the No. 7 Blast Furnace, a hot strip mill and two basic oxygen furnaces.
IDEM said in the permit it was following EPA requirements, such as by monitoring releases of carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide into the air. The state agency said it uses the data to produce a daily Air Quality Index, a daily air quality forecast report, both short and long-term health risk assessments, localized health concern identifications and long-term trend tracking.
It said in the permit it has to follow federal EPA regulations and has no authority to establish fence-line monitoring down-wind outside the mill.
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"Permitting decisions are made based on an applicant's ability to demonstrate compliance with all applicable state and federal requirements pursuant to the Clean Air Act," IDEM spokesman Barry Sneed said. "The Cleveland Cliffs Indiana Harbor Part 70 Operating Permits were issued following an EPA review and comment period."
Cleveland-Cliffs did not return requests for comment but said in its recently released sustainability report that it aims to comply with air permits and environmental regulations while seeking continuous improvement. It said it has reduced fine particular matter emissions by 23% between 2021 and 2024 and is working on more initiatives to reduce air pollution.
"Since our transformation into a steel producer in 2020, our dedication to improving our environmental performance has resulted in a significant decrease in both total number of reportable events and lower criteria air emissions," the company said in its sustainability report.
The Environmental Law & Policy Center, Conservation Law Center, Environmental Integrity Project, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development and Just Transition Northwest Indiana object that residents who live near the mill have been forced to suffer from higher levels of air pollution.
"It is beyond frustrating to have grave concerns from pollution-impacted communities in Northwest Indiana ignored yet again by IDEM. Just Transition Northwest Indiana has testified at countless permit hearings with frontline residents calling out a lack of basic permitting oversight and enforcement," Just Transition Northwest Indiana Policy Director Susan Thomas said. "The health of our children, communities, and environment is suffering direct harm from IDEM’s free passes to polluting industry. Cleveland-Cliffs is fully capable of implementing best-available technologies and practices and should do so as any responsible corporate neighbor would. IDEM is supposed to protect us and has failed its obligation in this permit."
Gary Advocates for Responsible Development President Doreen Carey said environmental regulators disregarded concerns about the permits, such as about pollution linked to health issues like asthma and heart attacks.
"IDEM’s renewal of the Cleveland-Cliffs air permit fails to protect the residents of surrounding communities from decades-long and ongoing exposure to health-harming air pollutants that are the proven cause of significant increases in respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancers at numerous sites, and premature deaths," she said. "The current outmoded and insufficient methods of emission monitoring in the Cleveland-Cliffs air permit renewal cannot assure continuous compliance and enforcement of the Clean Air Act. EPA must act to object to this permit renewal and meet its obligation to protect human health and the environment.”
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