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Monday, January 25, 2010
Environment - "Feds taking look at 'Easterly's pile'"
From Gitte Laasby's story in the Sunday Gary Post Tribune begins:
Federal officials are investigating a complaint from a Post-Tribune reader regarding mounds of steel mill waste dumped at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor -- a case that could ultimately be referred to the FBI.Valparaiso resident Kevin Cornett filed a complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inspector general after he read a Post-Tribune investigation in November 2009. It revealed waste has been dumped on open ground at ArcelorMittal, formerly Bethlehem Steel, for up to 24 years.
Storing waste without environmental controls for more than six months is considered open dumping, which is illegal under state and federal law.
According to ArcelorMittal employees, the waste is named after Tom Easterly, the commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Easterly was in charge of environmental matters at Bethlehem Steel between 1994 and 2000. Sources allege IDEM has not enforced against ArcelorMittal because of Easterly's role.
Cornett asked the inspector general to investigate why regional EPA has not stepped in.
"I had enough of (EPA) Region 5 not doing their job. Not overseeing Indiana at all," he said.
EPA Region 5 spokeswoman Karen Thompson confirmed last week that no EPA staff has visited ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor since the Post-Tribune investigation was published.
Cornett told the inspector general in a Nov. 16 complaint that the revelation of waste dumped at ArcelorMittal was "the straw that broke the camel's back."
"BP was allowed to circumvent the air regulations, U.S. Steel has been allowed to dump tons of waste in the water for decades, and now ArcelorMittal is allowed to store waste material 500 feet from Lake Michigan. All with the blessing of our IDEM and the EPA," Cornett wrote in his complaint.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 25, 2010 03:29 PM
Posted to Environment