The Department of Justice announced a proposed settlement with Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corporation (Cliffs) requiring it to address releases of hazardous waste at its Middletown Works facility.
Under the proposed consent decree, Cliffs will perform long-term corrective measures to comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The required corrective measures will address several site areas at the Middletown Works, a 2,600-acre integrated steel mill that has operated in Middletown, Ohio, since 1901.
This consent decree will provide final closure to a civil lawsuit against Cliffs’ predecessor, AK Steel Corporation, by the Department of Justice and later joined by the state of Ohio and environmental groups.
Under a partial settlement, AK Steel conducted cleanups of two tributaries to the Great Miami River and agreed to perform comprehensive investigations of other contaminant releases and evaluate potential corrective measures. Under the consent decree lodged today, Cliffs now agrees to implement the corrective measures when approved and selected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The first two areas to be addressed under the new consent decree are closed landfills that historically received wastes from Middletown Works including industrial wastewater treatment sludges, steel production process sludges, and slag. The corrective measures at these areas are expected to cost $12 million. Additionally, the consent decree will require Cliffs to implement corrective measures at other site areas, such as the Middletown Works’ production and slag processing areas. These steps are needed to achieve long-term protection of human health and the environment.
The consent decree was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and is subject to a 30-day public comment period. The complaint and proposed consent decree are available at www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
ENRD’s Environmental Enforcement Section is handling the case
Source: Department of Justice
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