43
Lawsuit: ISSI/RE-GEN violated laws
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Ohio Attorney General’s office has filed legal action in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court alleging that a company has violated Ohio environmental laws.
The company formerly operated an acid-regeneration plant at the former Severstal steel mill on Pine Avenue, Warren Township.
“International Steel Services Inc. and RE-GEN, Inc., have maintained a hazardous waste operation ... that has had significant negative impact upon the environment, resulting in pollution of land formerly owned by Severstal Warren, Inc. and now owned by RG Steel, LLC,” the suit says.
ISSI and RE-GEN are companies based in Pittsburgh that are “the largest producer and marketer of iron oxide produced by acid-regeneration facilities servicing the steel and related industries,” ISSI says.
The suit says ISSI and RE-GEN have improperly operated the plant since December 2004, disposing of and storing hazardous waste resulting from “pickle liquor,” which is a chemical used in steel-finishing operations.
ISSI and RE-GEN recover hydrochloric acid and ferrous oxide from the spent pickle liquor, the suit explained.
The Ohio EPA advised ISSI/RE-GEN in December 2005 that it was no longer complying with regulations, the suit said.
Among the problems were the methods that ISSI/ RE-GEN used to store and dispose of unusable iron- oxide residues, the suit said.
The company allowed the residues to fall to the ground and contaminate the site. An inspection also indicated that tanks of recovered acid were leaking, the suit said.
The company said in a prepared statement that the problem the suit speaks of “represents absolutely no danger to the health and safety of Ohio citizens.”
The statement says the matter represents a disagreement between the company and Ohio officials that developed in 2004 regarding how iron oxide should be treated.
The company felt that it should be allowed to continue to handle the chemicals the way it had from 1999 through 2004, when the chemicals were given a variance from classification as a hazardous waste.
In 2005, when that variance expired, the company argued that iron oxide should not be listed as a hazardous chemical in Ohio because the U.S. EPA does not classify it as a hazardous chemical.
The company pointed out in 2004 that Ohio was the only state in the nation that “takes the view that a variance is required for the iron-oxide processes,” the company said.
The lawsuit says the company should no longer receive the variance because it failed to comply with its terms.