Steel Mills
Another Chromium Spill at U.S. Steel
Written by Tim Triplett
November 15, 2017
The Chicago Tribune was the first to report that U.S. Steel released toxic chromium into Lake Michigan on Oct. 26 due to a malfunction in the wastewater treatment system at the steelmaker’s Midwest Plant in Portage, Ind. The 56.7 pounds of chromium was 89 percent higher than U.S. Steel’s water pollution permit allows in a 24-hour period.
U.S. Steel is being criticized for not reporting the spill right away and asking Indiana officials for confidential treatment of the incident. U.S. Steel defended its actions in a statement that asserts the incident “did not pose any danger to the water supply, human health or the environment.”
“On Thursday, Oct. 26, we experienced an operating excursion at our water treatment plant located within our Midwest Plant in Portage, Ind., that resulted in an exceedance of our total chrome limits. We immediately shut down the affected portion of the treatment plant and shifted to an alternate operation that allowed us to identify the cause and make the necessary corrections to be within allowable levels. We promptly communicated with IDEM to inform them of the incident as required by our NPDES permit and continue to work to ensure that there is no environmental impact. As the event did not pose any danger to the water supply, human health or the environment, public notification to the National Response Center was not required. Any confidentiality requests were made in later correspondence due to business-sensitive material and have since been waived,” the company said.
The latest spill follows on a similar but more significant incident in April in which a U.S. steel facility released a reported 346 pounds of chromium, including 298 pounds of hexavalent chromium, into the Burns Harbor Waterway adjacent to Lake Michigan.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Mills
BREAKING NEWS: Cliffs plans to idle three mills, cut 950 jobs on ‘insufficient demand and pricing’
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to indefinitely idle its steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., as well as mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Steelton, Pa. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said all three facilities would be idled on or around June 30. Approximately 950 jobs will be impacted, the company said.
CRU: Usiminas may reduce capex unless government strengthens protection
“The lack of effective measures to create fair competition, amid a surge in subsidized imports, is the main threat to the sustainability of Brazil’s steel industry and its value chain,” CEO Marcelo Chara said.
USS swings to loss in first quarter on N. American flat-rolled segment woes
U.S. Steel CEO praised the company’s resilience, “despite the seasonally low results driven by annual mining logistics constraints in our North American Flat-Rolled segment and lagging spot prices.”
Nucor gives updates on new capacity coming online
Nucor said several of its capital projects will start operations within the next year and provided an update on them.
Algoma swings to loss on ‘market challenges’ and ‘tariff uncertainties’
Canada’s Algoma Steel swung to a loss in the first quarter amid "market challenges," and the company now expects first steel production from its first EAF in the second quarter.