News from USWA: AK Steel Rockport Works Releases Millions of Pounds of Toxics and Violates Pollution Laws, Says Report by Environmental and Labor Organizations.Business Editors INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 5, 2002 Numerous environmental and labor organizations (including Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Citizens Organized Watch, Inc., Hoosier Environmental Council, Protect Our Woods, Save Our Land and Environment, Save Our Rivers and the United Steelworkers United Steelworkers (USW) historic labour union representing workers in steel, aluminum, and other metallurgical industries for much of the 20th century. In the U.S. of America) are holding press conferences today in Evansville and Indianapolis to announce the release of their report, "'State of the Art' Has Never Been So Toxic," which examines AK Steel's (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :AKS) poor environmental record at its Rockport, IN facility. The report details Rockport Works' history of permit violations, including at least 52 violations of its wastewater permit since it began operations in the late 1990s. It also details the facility's astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. releases of toxic contaminants and other pollutants pollutants see environmental pollution. to Indiana's air and water. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the federal Toxics Release Inventory The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available database from the EPA that contains information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities reported annually by certain covered industry groups as well as federal facilities. , Rockport Works was Indiana's top water polluter and, among 21,344 manufacturing facilities in the US, the nation's 20th largest releaser of toxic chemicals to air and water in 2000. "AK Steel took up Indiana's offer of over $71 million in subsidies to build what it claimed would be a `state of the art' facility," said Hoosier Environmental Council President Jack Miller, "and releasing over 12.8 million pounds of toxic substances to our environment in 2000 is no way to pay us back." "'State of the Art' Has Never Been So Toxic" also discusses ways in which AK Steel Rockport Works has been regulated very leniently, and it suggests avenues by which citizens can get involved to ensure that the facility complies with environmental laws and pollutes less in the future. For instance, Rockport Works' air and water permits will soon be up for public review, giving people a chance to attend hearings and voice their concerns. According to Grant Smith of Citizens Action Coalition, "AK Steel has shown it's a bad environmental actor in Pennsylvania, by polluting a community's drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. supply, and in Ohio, where it is being sued by the Justice Department for violating the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. This well-researched report not only shows that AK is also a bad environmental actor in Indiana, it discusses what concerned citizens can do to force AK to clean up its act." To view the report, see www.InsideAK.org. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion