by MARK REUTTER
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is again threatening to sue environmental regulators and Severstal North America if action is not taken against illegal discharges of cancer-causing benzene and other pollutants into Baltimore harbor.
Jon A. Mueller, CBF’s director of litigation, criticized state and federal agencies for not insisting that immediate measures be taken to stop the flow of toxic chemicals from the Sparrows Point steel mill. Mueller was responding to Severstal’s claim, reported last week in the Brew, that it was not responsible for investigating or cleaning up so-called “historical contamination” from the plant.
“If the state and federal government fail to act in a timely way,” Mueller said, “we will be forced to take action.”
((Listen to Mark discuss our Sparrows Point coverage at 9 am tomorrow ( Tuesday) on Sheilah Kast’s Maryland Morning show, on WYPR FM.))
Last May, CBF filed notice in federal court that it intended to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and Severstal for failing to enforce a 1997 court decree that was suppose to stop widespread pollution from the mill. A 90-day waiting period was required before a lawsuit could be filed.
Before the waiting period expired, EPA and MDE told Severstal to take “aggressive” action to stop benzene, naphthalene and other chemicals from leaching into Baltimore harbor from a closed coke oven plant. The agencies’ action was a factor in the environmental group’s decision not to file the lawsuit, according to Mueller.
Since then, Severstal has stalled the cleanup process by asserting that the 2003 bankruptcy sale of Bethlehem Steel Corp., parent company of Sparrows Point, freed it from the consent decree.
Severstal claims it is not responsible for cleaning up any off-site pollution before it purchased Sparrows Point in May 2008. At issue are potentially tens of thousands of tons of harbor sediment suspected to be contaminated by decades of steel mill discharges.
“The state and federal governments should either compel action by Severstal or use Superfund to clean up the site and seek to recover their costs from Severstal,” Mueller said. (Superfund is the common name for the federal program that cleans up hazardous waste sites that threaten public health or the environment.)
Del. John A. Olszewski, who represents the 6th legislative district of Baltimore County, including Sparrows Point, added his voice to the cleanup controversy. In a statement released over Thanksgiving weekend, Olszewski said:
“My vision is to see the entire Sparrows Point peninsula fully and properly investigated and, as needed, cleaned up once and for all. It goes without saying that accomplishing such a cleanup requires a comprehensive study of both on-site and off-site contaminants. I will continue to push regulators at the Maryland Department of the Environment to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety and well-being of our citizens.”
– Mark Reutter can be reached at reuttermark@yahoo.com .
