Cleveland-Cliffs Steel LLC and Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor LLC Settlement

WASHINGTON (Feb. 14, 2022) Cliffs Burns Harbor (Cleveland-Cliffs) has agreed to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and other laws, for an August 2019 discharge of ammonia and cyanide-laden wastewater into the East Branch of the Little Calumet River. The discharge, which led to fish kills in the river, also caused beach closures along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Cleveland-Cliffs is undertaking substantial measures to improve its wastewater system at its steel manufacturing and finishing facility in Burns Harbor, Indiana.  

• Overview
• Violations
• Injunctive Relief
• Pollutant Impacts
• Health Effects and Environmental Benefits
• Civil Penalty
• Comment Period
• For More Information, Contact

Overview

The Cleveland Cliffs Burns Harbor Facility, located in Burns Harbor, Indiana, is one of the largest fully integrated steel mills in North America, with the capacity to produce approximately five million tons of raw steel per year.

Violations

The Clean Water Act (CWA) violations addressed by the settlement involve several days of unpermitted releases of cyanide and ammonia nitrogen in August 2019 from the Facility. A pump failure resulted in discharges of untreated cyanide and ammonia nitrogen in exceedance of permit effluent limitations. EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) emergency response personnel responded to this release. The cyanide release killed hundreds of fish in the East Branch of the Little Calumet River. As a result of the release, Ogden Dunes Beach and the Indiana Dunes National Park were closed for seven days. CCBH also failed to provide timely notification and emergency reports to the local emergency response authorities after the release, as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA.)

Injunctive Relief

CCBH is required to maintain a newly installed cyanide treatment system to reduce cyanide at the Facility to maintain compliance with NPDES permit effluent limits.

CCBH is also required to maintain and operate a newly installed pilot ammonia-N treatment system to reduce ammonia-N at the Facility, until CCBH installs a permanent ammonia-N removal system by May 2025. The proposed CD also requires compliance with approved O&M Plans.

In addition, to help ensure that unpermitted cyanide and ammonia releases will not re-occur, CCBH will use, on an emergency basis, an existing lined leachate storage pond to retain blast furnace air scrubber water in the event the Blast Furnace recycle system is disabled and the scrubber system needs to operate. As a backstop, the Facility will shut down its furnaces before the pond is filled. CCBH must also comply with a Diversion Procedure Plan that includes specific provisions to reduce water flow to the pond from other sources when needed for retaining scrubber water, sample the pond water and other locations for cyanide and ammonia-N, treat and/or meter the pond water to maintain compliance with NPDES Permit effluent limits for ammonia-N and cyanide, and maintain compliance with pond capacity requirements. IDEM intends to include the Diversion Procedure Plan into the NPDES Permit.

Finally, CCBH must conduct investigations and enhanced sampling to analyze all wastewater flows from the Facility and submit the results of that investigation to EPA and IDEM for review and approval. CCBH will also address deficiencies in its environmental management system and violation mitigation response and will implement increased notification regarding future exceedances to the local community.

Pollutant Impacts

The proposed settlement will result in expected pollutant decreases of, among others, ammonia, cyanide, toxicity, phenolics, and oil and grease.

Health Effects and Environmental Benefits

In addition to IDEM as a co-plaintiff, two citizens groups, the Environment and Law Policy Center (ELPC) and the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) are co-plaintiffs. As a result of their inclusion, the State will manage two environmentally beneficial projects that will benefit the communities surrounding the Facility. CCBH will donate approximately 127 acres of land abutting the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and will perform enhanced monitoring in the East Branch of the Little Calumet River and Lake Michigan.

Civil Penalty

CCBH has agreed to pay a penalty of $3 million, that will be split with the State of Indiana. In addition, CCBH will reimburse EPA for $10,025.37 and IDEM for $37,650 in past response costs relating to the August 2019 unpermitted releases.  

Comment Period

The proposed settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, is subject to a minimum 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting comment is available at the Department of Justice.

For More Information, Contact:

Tom Martin or Ian Cecala
Associate Regional Counsel
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 (C-14J) 
77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 60604
[email protected]; [email protected]

Melissa K. Raack
Office of Civil Enforcement
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Raack.Melissa @epa.gov