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Steel News November 20, 2017 03:30:50 PM

US Steel Faces Lawsuit for Repeated Dumping of Highly Toxic Metal

Paul Ploumis
ScrapMonster Author
As per documents, the company’s Portage, Ind. plant released 56.7 pounds of chromium- a potentially cancer-causing chemical into a Lake Michigan tributary.

US Steel Faces Lawsuit for Repeated Dumping of Highly Toxic Metal

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The City of Chicago plans to file a notice of intent to sue US Steel on charges of repeated violations of Clean Water Act. The press conference attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and several leaders belonging to various environmental organizations noted that the company has been responsible for recent dumping of toxic metal into Lake Michigan waterways. A similar incident was reported during the month of April this year. The Conference condemned US Steel for attempting to pollute one of the most precious natural resource.

According to the City, the most recent spill incident occurred on October 25th, 2017. As per documents, the company’s Portage, Ind. plant released 56.7 pounds of chromium- a potentially cancer-causing chemical into a Lake Michigan tributary following malfunctioning of wastewater treatment system at the plant. This is almost double the permitted limit of 30 pounds over 24-hour period. Surprisingly, US Steel in its reporting to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) had tried to keep the spill a secret and had requested the authority for ‘confidential treatment’ of the incident. Moreover, EPA authorities were not notified of the spill incident.

Meantime, the statement issued by US Steel noted that the recent incident has not posed any sort of danger to water supply or human health. The issue was properly communicated to the IDEM, it said. The EPA spokesperson has already clarified that the chromium release does not seem to have exceeded the limits and would not need to be reported, US Steel noted. The statement also reiterated the company’s commitment to ensure safety of its employees and communities in which it operates.

Earlier in April this year, a pipe failure at the plant had resulted in spillage of nearly 350 pounds of chromium comprising of nearly 300 pounds of hexavalent chromium- a toxic heavy metal that could cause cancer if ingested. A report filed later by the company mentioned that up to 920 pounds of the heavy metal could have ended up in the waterway. However, the report was dismissed, stating that the finding was based on single water sample. The preliminary results of water samples collected by EPA from Burns Waterway and Lake Michigan had not indicated significant traces of hexavalent chromium.

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