After releasing a controversial wastewater permit draft for U.S. Steel's Gary Works plant in 2007, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has released a new draft the public can start commenting on today.

The EPA objected to the 2007 permit, and many environmentalists and residents also criticized the old draft. IDEM said it has addressed all the concerns.

"Over the last few years we've been working with the EPA to address the concerns of the EPA and also members of the public," said Bruno Pigott, IDEM's assistant commissioner of the office of water quality. "We've made what we'd consider important and protective changes to the permit."

The EPA argued the previous draft would violate state law by releasing more pollutants into the Grand Calumet River and Lake Michigan. The agency also was concerned with the five-year period -- the full length of a permit -- the plant would have to comply with the new standards, and IDEM could not pass a permit with an official objection from the EPA.

The EPA is supporting the new permit.

"We will withdraw our objection," said Peter Swenson, chief of the National Pollutant Elimination Discharge System programs grant for the EPA's Region 5 in Chicago. "If we do have additional concerns that arrive after the public comment period, we will bring them up to IDEM."

The new proposed permit comes 10 years after U.S. Steel's permit expired.

"It has taken some time, and we believe it's important to get these permits out in a timely manner," Pigott said. "But it's also important to make sure any permit we issue protects the water of the United States. We want to get the permit done right."

Pigott said IDEM has given an administrative extension to the plant's permit since 1999.

The new draft requires U.S. Steel to monitor and send reports more frequently from its outfalls, or points where water from the manufacturing plant enters the Grand Calumet River and Lake Michigan. Gary Works is U.S. Steel's largest manufacturing plant with a production capacity of about 7.5 million net tons of steel and 1.3 million net tons of coke each year.

U.S. Steel representatives said under the new permit, the company must conduct a variety of water tests on daily, weekly and monthly bases.

Mardanna D. Soto, U.S. Steel area manager for environmental technical services, said there would be at least 6,000 opportunities each month for them to violate the proposed permit. The new permit also would put limits on mercury emissions -- something that was not monitored in the past because older measuring technologies could not produce detailed mercury readings.

The company plans to spend millions of dollars on testing and treating mercury in wastewater, said Michael Williams, senior vice president for U.S. Steel's North American Flat Roll Operations.

"It's not going to be cheap," he said. "But we're committed to 100 percent compliance."

Because the plant uses millions of gallons of water each day, Williams said the challenge will be finding technology that can handle such large volumes of water.

"We have to find the technology, just on a different scale," Williams said.

IDEM and the EPA met with about 20 representatives from environmental groups early Monday to discuss the proposed permit. Kim Ferraro, executive director and attorney for the Legal Environmental Aid Foundation, said she appreciated the government agencies reaching out to the community.

"Just having the open dialogue and having the two agencies address our concerns is a step in the right direction," Ferraro said.

Ann Alexander, senior attorney with the Midwest program of the Natural Resources Defense Council said IDEM did make changes between the old and new permit drafts, but that not all of the council's concerns were addressed.

"There are more questions than answers at this point," Alexander said. "It's clear that some progress was made, and we're happy with that. It's also clear they did not address everything we asked them (regarding the 2007 draft). Beyond that, it's clear we all have a whole lot of reading to do."

The 128-page document details limits on pollutants, such as lead, mercury and ammonia. Under the current permit, U.S. Steel can emit about 203 pounds of ammonia on average each month at outfall 501, Swenson said. Those monthly averages would be reduced to 27.9 pounds under the new permit.

"This permit will not allow increased discharge into the lake," Swenson said. "In fact, it's more stringent for many pollutants."

The new permit also limits the time U.S. Steel has to comply with new certain emission levels.

"We understand that Lake Michigan and Northwest Indiana have vital natural resources," Williams said. "We believe we are a good corporate citizen. We're glad to have this permit even though it poses significant challenges for us, but we're dedicated to being compliant."

Public Comment Period

The permit is available to the public at idem.IN.gov, the Lake County Health Department and local libraries. The 45-day public comment period runs through Nov. 30.

Written comments can be mailed to IDEM's Office of Water Quality/Industrial NPDES Permits Section, Attention: Mr. Stan Rigney, MC 65-42 IGCN Room 1255, 100 N. Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204-2251. Comments also can be e-mailed to srigney@idem.IN.gov.

IDEM also will be holding a formal public hearing on the draft wastewater permit at 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at Indiana University Northwest's Savannah Center Auditorium, 3400 Broadway in Gary. Individuals may submit oral or written comments to IDEM during the meeting.