Recycler settles complaint over air pollution

The company’s president said Re-Gen didn’t do anything wrong.

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — A Pittsburgh-based company that recycles hydrochloric acid used in the steelmaking process at the former WCI Steel mill in Warren Township has settled a complaint with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency by agreeing to pay permit fees of $8,000 and a civil penalty of $70,000.

Re-Gen Inc., which runs an idled production facility at 1040 Pine Ave. S.E., agreed last month in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to pay the fees and penalty to settle a suit brought against the company by the Ohio attorney general’s office.

The Ohio EPA said in 2007 that International Steel Services Inc., which runs Re-Gen, failed to obtain the proper type of air pollution permit from 1999 to 2006 and failed to pay appropriate permit fees.

The consent order signed by Judge W. Wyatt McKay of common pleas court says the company will pay the $70,000 in two stages: $30,000 by the middle of this month and the other $30,000 within one year.

The order also says the company will apply for the necessary permit within 60 days of reopening and pay emission fees dating back to 1999 of $8,000.

A Re-Gen spokesman has said the legal action was filed because the company and EPA disagreed as to whether the facility should be classified as a minor or major source of air pollution.

The spokesman said Re-Gen applied for a permit when it began operations in 1999, but the EPA returned the application and insisted that the plant apply for the permit for a facility that is a “major source” of pollution.

Michael Sieckmann, president of Re-Gen, said in a press release this week that his company settled the lawsuit “not because of any wrongdoing, but we were left with no other option when OEPA persisted in allegations despite reasonable attempts to resolve the matter.”

He added, “The cost of continuing litigation was not insignificant, and in fact Re-Gen is presently idled due to the current downturn affecting the steel industry.”

WCI was purchased in July by a Russian company that named the mill Severstal Warren. Severstal idled its steelmaking operations in the fall and indefinitely laid off more than half of its 1,200 hourly and salaried workers.

Re-Gen says its sister company, Amrox, won a prestigious environmental award for a system that “completely utilizes the ferrous chloride solution produced by the steel industry.”

The Ohio EPA says Re-Gen is required to have a permit and submit emission reports because it emits hazardous air pollutants and so that the Ohio EPA “can ensure it operates in a manner that protects human health and the environment.”