Friday, November 17, 2017 1:41:16 AM
I think this is worse. The leak oil can be cleaned up.
U.S. Steel Chemical Spill Exceeds Allowable Limit by 584 Times
A U.S. Steel plant in Portage, Indiana spilled 56.7 pounds of a cancer-causing chemical into Burns Waterway last month.
PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — Environmentalists are questioning why the public wasn't notified about an October chemical spill into a Lake Michigan tributary that U.S. Steel asked Indiana regulators to keep confidential.
Documents released by the University of Chicago's Abrams Environmental Law Clinic show that U.S. Steel's plant in Portage, Indiana, released 56.7 pounds (25.7 kilograms) of chromium on Oct. 25 after a wastewater treatment system malfunction. That's nearly double what the plant is permitted to release of the potentially cancer-causing chemical over 24 hours.
A company official wrote to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on Oct. 31 asking that its submission about the release "be afforded confidential treatment under all applicable statutes."
Law students at the University of Chicago obtained the letter while tracking pollution violations at U.S. Steel and other factories along Lake Michigan as they prepare a planned lawsuit accusing the Pittsburgh-based company of repeatedly violating the federal Clean Water Act since 2011.
The same plant released nearly 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of hexavalent chromium in April because of a pipe failure, prompting closure of nearby Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore beaches and a drinking water intake for some communities in the area about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Chicago. Officials said that spill was almost 600 times the plant's release limit.
U.S. Steel said in a statement Tuesday it promptly communicated with the Indiana environmental agency on Oct. 27 about the second spill "and continues to work to ensure that there is no environmental impact." The company declined to comment about the potential lawsuit.
Unlike the April spill, U.S. Steel didn't report the latest incident to the National Response Center, a warning system overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard to alert local authorities about oil spills and chemical releases, records show.
The October spill wasn't serious enough to merit reporting "and did not pose any danger to water supply or human health," U.S. Steel said.
Company spokeswoman Meghan Cox said Wednesday that its confidentiality request was made "due to business sensitive material" and has since been waived.
The Indiana environmental agency is reviewing whether proper notification procedures were followed, but excessive chemical releases typically don't require spill notifications, spokesman Barry Sneed said.
Mark Templeton, director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic, said he's concerned about state and federal regulators not penalizing U.S. Steel since the April spill or notifying the public about the October release.
"The public obviously has a right to know," Templeton said. "It's been over six months and no penalties. In this political climate, it's important that polluters and government officials know we are holding everyone accountable."
Democratic Portage City Councilman Collin Czilli said the Indiana agency should have warned residents about the latest chemical release.
"Why was this hidden?" he said. "Why were we not told?"
https://www.yahoo.com/news/documents-us-steel-sought-keep-chemical-spill-secret-170032272.html
The April spill closed 3 Indiana Beaches.
US Steel reported Tuesday the wastewater spill into Burns Waterway, about 100 yards away from Lake Michigan. In a statement released late Wednesday, U.S. Steel says the spill resulted from an equipment failure and it has idled all production processes at the facility.
The spill contained a toxic industrial byproduct called chromium-6. Cathy Martin, a program manager for Save The Dunes, says the chemical is a carcinogen and can cause skin lesions.
The chemical spill exceeded allowable limit by 584 times
The National Park Service says they are concerned about the long-term potential impacts to beach users’ health, wildlife, and other park resources.
The plant is permitted to release only a maximum of 0.51 pounds daily.
The toxic industrial byproduct was made infamous by the environmental activist and 2000 movie of the same name, “Erin Brockovich.”
The leak occurred between April 11 and April 12 and forced the closure of several Lake Michigan beaches and Indiana American Water’s intake in Ogden Dunes. Burns Waterway is a tributary that flows into Lake Michigan, a drinking water source for nearby Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.
Following the spill, U.S. Steel has committed to sampling and monitoring lake water on a weekly basis to ensure it is safe through the swimming season, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokesperson said. The discharge was reportedly caused by a pipe failure.
“If U.S. Steel had set up its system responsibly, it wouldn’t have been possible for a single mechanical failure to dump nearly 300 pounds of hexavalent chrome into Lake Michigan,” Henderson told the Times of Northwest Indiana.
“Spills like this show that U.S. Steel isn’t taking that responsibility seriously. Industry needs to step up.”
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/steel-spill-closes-2-indiana-beaches-leaks-chemicals-117803/
U.S. Steel faces lawsuit as company sought confidentiality from state regulators after second spill in Portage
Burns Waterway is seen April 12, a day after officials announced they determined a wastewater discharge from U.S. Steel's Portage facility contained hexavalent chromium. The carcinogenic chemical is a toxic byproduct of industrial processes that can cause reversible and irreversible skin lesions on direct contact, according to Save the Dunes.
The discovery of a second spill comes on the heels of the University of Chicago's Abrams Environmental Law Clinic on Tuesday notifying U.S. Steel of plans to sue the company for repeatedly violating the Clean Water Act at its Midwest plant for the last six years.
The law clinic is representing the Surfrider Foundation in the pending lawsuit. A U.S. Steel spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday on pending litigation.
State and federal regulators' failure to penalize or legally challenge U.S. Steel since the April spill and to notify the public of the most recent spill is why the law clinic is taking action, said Mark Templeton, director of the University of Chicago's Abrams Environmental Law Clinic.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/documents-u-s-steel-faces-lawsuit-as-company-sought-confidentiality/article_b535ca56-abb8-5059-9b0e-04363e12540f.html
U.S. Steel Chemical Spill Exceeds Allowable Limit by 584 Times
A U.S. Steel plant in Portage, Indiana spilled 56.7 pounds of a cancer-causing chemical into Burns Waterway last month.
PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — Environmentalists are questioning why the public wasn't notified about an October chemical spill into a Lake Michigan tributary that U.S. Steel asked Indiana regulators to keep confidential.
Documents released by the University of Chicago's Abrams Environmental Law Clinic show that U.S. Steel's plant in Portage, Indiana, released 56.7 pounds (25.7 kilograms) of chromium on Oct. 25 after a wastewater treatment system malfunction. That's nearly double what the plant is permitted to release of the potentially cancer-causing chemical over 24 hours.
A company official wrote to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on Oct. 31 asking that its submission about the release "be afforded confidential treatment under all applicable statutes."
Law students at the University of Chicago obtained the letter while tracking pollution violations at U.S. Steel and other factories along Lake Michigan as they prepare a planned lawsuit accusing the Pittsburgh-based company of repeatedly violating the federal Clean Water Act since 2011.
The same plant released nearly 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of hexavalent chromium in April because of a pipe failure, prompting closure of nearby Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore beaches and a drinking water intake for some communities in the area about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Chicago. Officials said that spill was almost 600 times the plant's release limit.
U.S. Steel said in a statement Tuesday it promptly communicated with the Indiana environmental agency on Oct. 27 about the second spill "and continues to work to ensure that there is no environmental impact." The company declined to comment about the potential lawsuit.
Unlike the April spill, U.S. Steel didn't report the latest incident to the National Response Center, a warning system overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard to alert local authorities about oil spills and chemical releases, records show.
The October spill wasn't serious enough to merit reporting "and did not pose any danger to water supply or human health," U.S. Steel said.
Company spokeswoman Meghan Cox said Wednesday that its confidentiality request was made "due to business sensitive material" and has since been waived.
The Indiana environmental agency is reviewing whether proper notification procedures were followed, but excessive chemical releases typically don't require spill notifications, spokesman Barry Sneed said.
Mark Templeton, director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic, said he's concerned about state and federal regulators not penalizing U.S. Steel since the April spill or notifying the public about the October release.
"The public obviously has a right to know," Templeton said. "It's been over six months and no penalties. In this political climate, it's important that polluters and government officials know we are holding everyone accountable."
Democratic Portage City Councilman Collin Czilli said the Indiana agency should have warned residents about the latest chemical release.
"Why was this hidden?" he said. "Why were we not told?"
https://www.yahoo.com/news/documents-us-steel-sought-keep-chemical-spill-secret-170032272.html
The April spill closed 3 Indiana Beaches.
US Steel reported Tuesday the wastewater spill into Burns Waterway, about 100 yards away from Lake Michigan. In a statement released late Wednesday, U.S. Steel says the spill resulted from an equipment failure and it has idled all production processes at the facility.
The spill contained a toxic industrial byproduct called chromium-6. Cathy Martin, a program manager for Save The Dunes, says the chemical is a carcinogen and can cause skin lesions.
The chemical spill exceeded allowable limit by 584 times
The National Park Service says they are concerned about the long-term potential impacts to beach users’ health, wildlife, and other park resources.
The plant is permitted to release only a maximum of 0.51 pounds daily.
The toxic industrial byproduct was made infamous by the environmental activist and 2000 movie of the same name, “Erin Brockovich.”
The leak occurred between April 11 and April 12 and forced the closure of several Lake Michigan beaches and Indiana American Water’s intake in Ogden Dunes. Burns Waterway is a tributary that flows into Lake Michigan, a drinking water source for nearby Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.
Following the spill, U.S. Steel has committed to sampling and monitoring lake water on a weekly basis to ensure it is safe through the swimming season, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokesperson said. The discharge was reportedly caused by a pipe failure.
“If U.S. Steel had set up its system responsibly, it wouldn’t have been possible for a single mechanical failure to dump nearly 300 pounds of hexavalent chrome into Lake Michigan,” Henderson told the Times of Northwest Indiana.
“Spills like this show that U.S. Steel isn’t taking that responsibility seriously. Industry needs to step up.”
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/steel-spill-closes-2-indiana-beaches-leaks-chemicals-117803/
U.S. Steel faces lawsuit as company sought confidentiality from state regulators after second spill in Portage
Burns Waterway is seen April 12, a day after officials announced they determined a wastewater discharge from U.S. Steel's Portage facility contained hexavalent chromium. The carcinogenic chemical is a toxic byproduct of industrial processes that can cause reversible and irreversible skin lesions on direct contact, according to Save the Dunes.
The discovery of a second spill comes on the heels of the University of Chicago's Abrams Environmental Law Clinic on Tuesday notifying U.S. Steel of plans to sue the company for repeatedly violating the Clean Water Act at its Midwest plant for the last six years.
The law clinic is representing the Surfrider Foundation in the pending lawsuit. A U.S. Steel spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday on pending litigation.
State and federal regulators' failure to penalize or legally challenge U.S. Steel since the April spill and to notify the public of the most recent spill is why the law clinic is taking action, said Mark Templeton, director of the University of Chicago's Abrams Environmental Law Clinic.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/documents-u-s-steel-faces-lawsuit-as-company-sought-confidentiality/article_b535ca56-abb8-5059-9b0e-04363e12540f.html
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