NORTHWEST INDIANA (WOWO) — Several environmental and community groups are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reject a renewed air permit issued to Cleveland-Cliffs’ Burns Harbor steel mill. The groups submitted a petition to the EPA on August 21, challenging a permit issued by th e Indiana Department of Environmental Management on July 6. The Environmental Law Policy Center, Environmental Integrity Project, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, Just Transition Northwest Indiana and Faith in Place say the permit does not include enough monitoring, testing and reporting requirements to ensure the facility complies with air pollution limits. The groups also say the permit is missing several plans they describe as standard requirements under the federal Clean Air Act, including corrective action, operations and maintenance, and preventive maintenance plans. The petition claims IDEM did not address concerns raised by community and environmental groups during the public comment period in 2024. Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor is the company’s second-largest integrated steel mill in the United States. The facility has operated along Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana since 1964 and can process up to five million net tons of raw steel each year. The groups say the facility’s coke ovens, blast furnaces and sinter plant release air pollutants into the region. Environmental advocates are asking the EPA to use its oversight authority to object to the permit and require additional protections. IDEM and Cleveland-Cliffs were not quoted in the information provided with the petition. The EPA will determine whether the petition raises grounds for an objection to the permit. The post Environmental Groups Ask EPA to Reject Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor Air Permit appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less