Several states, tribal nations and environmental groups argue
that reducing mercury is long overdue.
U.S. Steel and
Cleveland-Cliffs, the two companies operating all six of Minnesota’s active
iron ore mines and pellet plants, have each asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in
Washington, D.C., to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule published in March that aims to reduce the industry’s mercury emissions by 33%. The
rule would also reduce hydrofluoric acid and hydrochloric acid emissions.
The companies argue in court
filings challenging the finalized rule and comments on the then-proposed rule that
the regulations would be too costly, burdensome and require unproven
technology, among other arguments against the rule.
“The Rule exceeds EPA’s
statutory authority and imposes unprecedented, unsafe, and unduly burdensome
requirements on the Nation’s integrated iron and steel mills,” U.S. Steel wrote
in a court filing in July requesting the rule be on hold while judicial review
plays out.
Gary Meader / Duluth Media
Group
The Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency maintains that activated carbon injection and high-efficiency
wet scrubbers can reduce mercury emissions by up to 85%.
Combined, the companies’ six
pellet plants released almost half of the mercury emissions in the state in
2022, according to data from the MPCA. The taconite industry’s mercury
emissions have remained relatively consistent over the past two decades, even
as most other industries, most notably coal-fired power plants, have
drastically reduced emissions.
May 27, 2021
The Fond du Lake Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa, Save Lake Superior Association and Save Our Sky Blue Waters,
represented by Earthjustice, wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan in May
that the rules hadn’t gone far enough, arguing for even more stringent mercury
rules and limits on other pollutants.
The coalition, responding in
court flings to U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs in July, said continued mercury
pollution harms Fond du Lac’s treaty rights.