July 13, 2010
With all the attention given the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and BP's efforts to reimburse those who have been harmed by the pollution, one might think this was the only example of a poorly regulated industry damaging a critical ecosystem in this country. Sadly, it is not.
A lawsuit filed last week by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper and a handful of local residents against the current and previous owners of the Sparrows Point steelmaking facilities reflects a much older problem that has gotten much less attention than what's been happening in the Gulf. The lawsuit contends that a 13-year-old court order to clean up the polluted peninsula has been largely ignored by both Severstal North America, which currently runs the mill, and former owner ArcelorMittal USA.
That the land around Sparrows Point has been harmed by the production of hazardous waste from the steelmaking process over the plant's century-long history at the site is not in question. Groundwater samples have revealed benzene contamination that is 100,000 times greater than what is considered safe. One should no more swim in nearby Bear Creek or eat fish or crabs caught there than make a direct diet of chromium and lead that are trapped in the creek's muddy bottom.
The exact environmental risk to the surrounding area is not well-known. As the plaintiffs point out, no one has ever properly measured the extent of the pollution nor devised a plan to keep it from spreading further. Still, environmental groups believe Sparrows Point remains as toxic as any site in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
While the owners claim to have acted in good faith and made strides in the cleanup — and the Maryland Department of the Environment generally regards Severstal as being in compliance with the court order — the lawsuit lists too many continuing health and safety problems to be particularly optimistic. Unauthorized dumping of toxic material, unchecked runoff into the Patapsco River, inadequate sediment controls--the list of alleged offenses is substantial.
Severstal is not sitting around with $20 billion set aside to pay damages to every neighbor who has ever seen kish, a powdery byproduct, fall like snow on his or her property. U.S. steelmaking is not the profitable industry of two generations ago. That's one of the reasons the plant has gone through several changes in ownership (and bankruptcy) with Russia-based Severstal stepping in two years ago.
But neither MDE nor the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are supposed to tolerate a serious threat to human health because 2,400 jobs are a stake — as critically important as they are to Baltimore County and the region. Severstal may never have signed the government's consent decree but as owners of Sparrows Point, the company has to be held responsible for the contamination.
The plaintiffs aren't looking for money, just for Severstal to comply with existing federal law. Ignoring pollution at Sparrows Point out of fear that it would put the facility at a competitive disadvantage with other steel plants is like ignoring the Gulf spill because it might cause financial harm to BP. It's just unfortunate that a lawsuit is necessary to accomplish the job state and federal government regulators should have done years ago.
