GLIN==> Help Reduce Great Lakes Lead, Arsenic

Alliance for the Great Lakes
For Immediate Release
			
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009				      
Contact: Lyman Welch, 312-939-0838 x230
lwelch at greatlakes.org


Help Reduce Great Lakes Lead, Arsenic

The region’s third-largest discharger of arsenic and lead could continue releasing unlimited amounts of arsenic and only slightly less lead to Great Lakes waters under a proposed Indiana permit.

The public is encouraged to demand stricter pollution limits at a hearing on the draft wastewater discharge permit for U.S. Steel’s Gary Works plant, scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in Gary. Those unable to attend the hearing can submit written comments through Nov. 30.

“Strong pollution limits need to be written into the permit now,” said Lyman Welch, Alliance Water Quality Program manager. “Or we’ll spend more time and taxpayer dollars getting this pollution out of the water later.” 

The controversial permit governs how much pollution the country's largest fully integrated steel mill can discharge into Lake Michigan and the Grand Calumet River.

According to the U.S. EPA’s most recent Toxic Release Inventory data from 2008, U.S. Steel reported its Gary Works plant discharged more than 1,401 pounds of lead and 123 pounds of arsenic in a single year into Lake Michigan and the Grand Calumet River. Other pollutants released by the plant include copper, manganese, nitrate compounds, mercury, zinc, chromium, benzene, nickel and phenol. 

Lead in drinking water can cause a variety of adverse health effects, such as delays in physical and mental development in children, and slight deficits in attention span and learning. Arsenic is linked to various forms of cancer, among them cancers of the lung, kidney and prostate.

“The bulk of the arsenic and all of the lead pollution from the plant into Lake Michigan comes from storm water runoff," said Welch. "Yet Indiana has not taken a hard look at the plant's storm water plan to require elimination of this toxic runoff.”

Because U.S. Steel applied to renew its permit prior to its August 1999 expiration date, the Gary Works plant can continue to operate under the original October 1994 permit until the Indiana Department of Environmental Management issues a new one.

Since applying to renew its permit, the permit has been reshaped and vetted at two public hearings and two public meetings, the last one an EPA meeting in 2007 that saw some 300 attendees brave a December snowstorm.

Despite numerous permit revisions to resolve objections from EPA as well as comments from the Alliance and other environmental groups, Welch said the revised permit still falls short. 

“While we are pleased with many improvements made in the proposed permit since the last public hearing, Indiana must go further to reduce toxic chemicals dumped into Lake Michigan from storm water runoff,” he said. “Unfortunately, the proposed permit for U.S. Steel contains no limits or monitoring for arsenic, and only some lead limits have been tightened.”

The public hearing will be held at Indiana University Northwest, Savannah Center Auditorium, 3400 Broadway, Gary, Ind. For more information and links, see http://www.greatlakes.org/USSteelhearing

Mail written comments to:
IDEM’s Office of Water Quality/Industrial NPDES Permits Section, Attn: Mr. Stan Rigney, MC 65-42 IGCN Room 1255, 100 North Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204-2251.
Comments also can be e-mailed to: srigney at idem.IN.gov

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Formed in 1970, the Alliance for the Great Lakes is the oldest independent citizens' organization in North America. Its mission is to conserve and restore the world's largest freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife. More about the Alliance for the Great Lakes is online at www.greatlakes.org. 




Susan Campbell
Communications Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes
414-540-0699
Visit http://www.greatlakes.org



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