The Advocate reported that US’s leading steel maker Nucor’s iron ore plant in St James Parish operations are continuing to face troubles. After, a US Environment Protection Agency’s inspection in March which prompted the federal agency to issue 11 Clean Air Act and state environmental law-based violations earlier this month following a warning in January, EPA says it can seek a civil judicial action against Nucor and fine the company up to USD 109,024 per violation per day going back to November 2, 2015.The new violations come as the EPA is investigating DEQ over allegations it discriminates against Black residents already facing poor air quality in St. James Parish, just across the river from Nucor. Both sides of the parish's northern end, where Nucor is, are made up of small, rural communities mostly with Black residents, some of whom have been critical of Nucor's emissions for several years.Meanwhile, Nucor has been seeking state authority over the past several months to significantly increase permit limits on its emissions of greenhouse gases, those sulfur-based chemicals and other trace compounds. And, in late 2019, Nucor admitted to repeatedly running afoul of its permit over the prior six years for haze-inducing sulfur dioxide, flammable hydrogen sulfide gas and corrosive sulfuric acid mist. The elevated sulfur emissions were previously unknown to the state Department of Environmental Quality and Nucor; the plant wasn't even supposed to release hydrogen sulfide and sulfuric acid.The latest permit request would boost the limits on hydrogen sulfide mist by 2.5 times and on sulfuric acid mist more than six times current permit levels, giving the plant the right to be one of Louisiana's largest emitters of those two chemicals, federal and state data show.When Nucor Steel built its USD 750 million iron ore purification plant in St James Parish in the early 2010s, the facility was billed as having an innovative design that would minimize greenhouse gas emissions compared with older methods in the traditionally coal-reliant steelmaking industry.
The Advocate reported that US’s leading steel maker Nucor’s iron ore plant in St James Parish operations are continuing to face troubles. After, a US Environment Protection Agency’s inspection in March which prompted the federal agency to issue 11 Clean Air Act and state environmental law-based violations earlier this month following a warning in January, EPA says it can seek a civil judicial action against Nucor and fine the company up to USD 109,024 per violation per day going back to November 2, 2015.The new violations come as the EPA is investigating DEQ over allegations it discriminates against Black residents already facing poor air quality in St. James Parish, just across the river from Nucor. Both sides of the parish's northern end, where Nucor is, are made up of small, rural communities mostly with Black residents, some of whom have been critical of Nucor's emissions for several years.Meanwhile, Nucor has been seeking state authority over the past several months to significantly increase permit limits on its emissions of greenhouse gases, those sulfur-based chemicals and other trace compounds. And, in late 2019, Nucor admitted to repeatedly running afoul of its permit over the prior six years for haze-inducing sulfur dioxide, flammable hydrogen sulfide gas and corrosive sulfuric acid mist. The elevated sulfur emissions were previously unknown to the state Department of Environmental Quality and Nucor; the plant wasn't even supposed to release hydrogen sulfide and sulfuric acid.The latest permit request would boost the limits on hydrogen sulfide mist by 2.5 times and on sulfuric acid mist more than six times current permit levels, giving the plant the right to be one of Louisiana's largest emitters of those two chemicals, federal and state data show.When Nucor Steel built its USD 750 million iron ore purification plant in St James Parish in the early 2010s, the facility was billed as having an innovative design that would minimize greenhouse gas emissions compared with older methods in the traditionally coal-reliant steelmaking industry.
