The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Evraz Claymont Steel have agreed to an extensive list of improvements at the Claymont plate mill, aimed at improving air quality in surrounding neighborhoods.
The agreement, announced on Aug. 10, requires the company to make a number of operational changes on a schedule and allows DNREC to issue financial penalties if Evraz falls behind.
The steelmaker has been under fire from Claymont residents, DNREC and even Vice President Joe Biden for dragging its feet over environmental improvements.
Evraz will be required to install extra baghouse capacity to capture emissions by August, 2013. Other improvements require the company to move some operations inside and install state-of-the-art technology to capture emissions from its electric arc furnace.
“For too long, residents of this community have lived with dust emissions that could be reduced by utilizing modern technology,” said DNREC Secretary Colin O’Mara. “This agreement promotes public health by improving air quality and will ensure that the mill operates more cleanly.”
Steel dust from the mill has been falling on residents’ homes for at least seven years and DNREC first ordered the company to clean up its act in 2005. The company has made some improvements since then, including paving roads and installing water spray stations for trucks leaving the plant.
“The agreement represents a roadmap for how we can move forward together to ensure environmental protection and operational sustainability,” said Miles Brittan, vice president and general manager of Evraz Claymont Steel.
And while the amount of dust falling on Dee Whildin’s Sherwood Drive home has lessened in recent months, there is still work to do before she’ll be able to breathe easily, she said.
After organizing residents to conduct their own study of the dust – with the help of environmental advocacy group Global Community Monitor – and holding countless meetings on how to curb the dust, Whildin is happy that residents now have a working relationship with the steel mill and DNREC is on board, too.
“It just seems like everything is coming together like a big jigsaw puzzle,” she said.
