The ongoing battle over air pollution from Allegheny Ludlum’s Brackenridge steel mill and questions about how much a proposed federal emissions permit for the plant should allow, could soon land in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.
Four environmental organizations Thursday filed legal notice of their intent to sue the steelmaker, saying the plant, located about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, is violating the federal Clean Air Act by releasing more pollutants from its two electric arc furnaces than its 15-year-old permit allows.
The organizations also claim that a proposed operating permit under consideration by the Allegheny County Health Department, which has air quality oversight authority, would illegally allow the mill to double or triple emissions of some unhealthy air pollutants.
“This is about protecting the health of everyone who lives downwind from this plant,” said Patton Dycus, an attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington, D.C.-headquartered organization that is focused on enforcement of environmental laws.
Joining EIP in filing the eight-page notice is the Pittsburgh-based Group Against Smog and Pollution; PennEnvironment, which has offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; and the Clean Air Council, based in Philadelphia.
The federal Clean Air Act allows citizens, including non-governmental organizations, to sue alleged pollution sources if they believe regulators aren’t enforcing laws or regulations. The groups can file a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief after waiting 60 days if the emissions problems are not remedied.
According to the notice letter, the company has admitted that the short-term electric arc furnace emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and airborne particulates exceed permit limits, as do annual emissions of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides.
Jim Kelly, the health department’s deputy director, said adjustments will be made to the emissions limits contained in a draft permit that was released for public comment in November and those changes will likely require the permit to go to public comment again.
He said emissions tests will be done over the next two or three months to determine actual emissions from the plant and “revise the original incorrectly determined emission limits.
Dan Greenfield, a spokesman for Allegheny Ludlum and Allegheny Technologies Inc, its parent firm, said the company wouldn’t comment about the potential lawsuit, but has been “working cooperatively” with the county health department to resolve its emissions and permit issues.
He also said the company has made numerous operational upgrades at its mill, including closing is Natrona melt shop in 2010, and opening a $1.2 million hot rolling and processing operation to replace a 50-year-old facility.
The environmental organizations, in their notice, say, “we are aware of no modifications or changes that Allegheny Ludlum has made with respect to the [electric arc furnaces] that would remedy the violations at issue here.”
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1983, or on Twitter @donhopey
First Published: March 24, 2017, 4:10 a.m.
