EPA v. UNITED TACONITE LLC - FAIRLANE PLANT - CONSENT DECREE

Case summary

United Taconite LLC (UTAC) is a taconite iron ore mine and processing plant in Minnesota that produces iron pellets for use in integrated steel mills. The company is operated by Cliffs Natural Resources. The facility's operations include mining, crushing, and pulverizing taconite ores to create a concentrate that is then dried, pelletized into balls, and sent into high-temperature indurating furnaces to harden before being transported to integrated steel mills. UTAC is subject to the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Taconite and Iron Ore Processing, at 40 C.F.R. Part 63, Subpart RRRRR (Taconite MACT). The main pollutant of concern is particulate matter (PM). Region 5 inspectors identified periods of time when UTAC bypassed a primary control device, resulting in exceedances of the Taconite MACT standard for PM. Additionally, UTAC had several violations of its parametric monitoring limits (pressure drop and water flow rate) required to demonstrate compliance with the Taconite MACT limits. The consent decree includes the following injunctive relief: (1) automation of the process by which all the facility?s indurating furnaces are fueled when a stack cap is opened, so that, immediately upon a stack cap beginning to open, the indurating furnace will be fueled exclusively by natural gas; and (2) performance of a root cause failure analysis at the facility's indurating furnace wet scrubber operation during low production operations. The consent decree provides for a civil penalty of $250,000. A quarter of the penalty ($62,500) will be paid in cash, with the remainder offset by a supplemental environmental project (SEP). The SEP will be the replacement of an existing wet scrubber control system with a more efficient dry fabric filter PM control system, which is valued at approximately $488,000. The dry control system will reduce filterable PM emissions by 67% of the facility's current levels, as well as eliminate the use of water to control emissions. Water usage at the taconite mines in Minnesota is of great interest to the Native-American tribes in the area, in particular regarding its impact on the cultivation of wild rice.

Defendants (1)

• UNITED TACONITE LLC - FAIRLANE PLANTNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• UNITED TACONITE LLC - FAIRLANE PLANT

  8470 TOWNLINE RD, FORBES, MN, 557384500

  Registry ID: 110070834615

Statutes cited

• CAA 112D — MACT Standards

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• UNITED TACONITE LLC - FAIRLANE PLANTentered 2019-10-04

  Primary law: CAA

  Federal penalty: $50,000 · SEP: $488,000

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2014-09-22Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2014-09-25Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2019-04-18Complaint Filed With Court
• 2019-04-18Final Order Lodged
• 2019-10-04Final Order Entered