According to local news reports, ArcelorMittal will pay a $1.8 million settlement to state, federal and local entities over air pollution from its Monessen, Pennsylvania coke plant.
PennEnvironment filed a federal lawsuit in October 2015, alleging the company had repeatedly violated limits on air pollution since the plant was restarted in 2014.
“Ever since the company's idled, decades-old facility restarted in April 2014, individuals and homes have been showered with soot and acidic gases that also have noxious odors. Residents have had their quality of life diminished, have had to endure these odors and soot, and have had to fear for their health,” PennEnvironment Executive Director David Masur said in a statement.
ArcelorMittal acknowledged in a statement the challenges of restarting the plant, including “unacceptable” environmental performance. Since the lawsuit was filed, the coke plant has been operating under new leadership, the company said, “working diligently to improve the facility's performance through a series of investments and actions” in order to achieve and maintain full compliance with all environmental permits.
Masur said the plant had more than 226 pollution limit violations for its output of hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and sooty particulate matter, sometimes in amounts that were eight times higher than the legal limit, because the company reportedly did not install a monitoring device that would track how much toxic hydrogen sulfide was burning off in the plant’s boilers.
PennEnvironment worked with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to negotiate the settlement with ArcelorMittal. The company will pay a total of $1.5 million in civil penalties that will be split evenly between the EPA and DEP. A portion of the settlement may also go to communities in the affected area.