June 23, 2026
The Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Gary Advocates for Responsible Development (GARD), and Just Transition Northwest Indiana (JTNWI) today filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to meet a mandatory Clean Air Act deadline to act on a petition challenging the renewal of an operating permit for U.S. Steel Gary Works in Gary, Indiana.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, does not ask the court to decide the merits of the permit challenge. Instead, it seeks a court order requiring EPA to act on a petition that has been pending far beyond the deadline established by Congress in the Clean Air Act.
The groups filed their petition with EPA on July 3, 2025, arguing that U.S. Steel’s Title V operating permit fails to include adequate monitoring and compliance provisions needed to assure compliance with important air pollution limits. Under the Clean Air Act, EPA was required to grant or deny the petition within 60 days. More than nine months later, EPA still has not acted.
“Congress established clear deadlines so communities, regulators, and industry are not left in limbo. In the absence of EPA action, this lawsuit was the necessary next step to rein in illegal pollution originating from U.S. Steel Gary Works” said Max Lopez, Associate Attorney at ELPC. “EPA’s failure to act prevents resolution of serious questions we and others have about whether the Gary Works permit contains the monitoring and compliance measures necessary to protect public health. We are asking the court to order EPA to issue a decision on the petition by a court-ordered deadline.”
Gary Works is the largest steel mill in the United States and one of the largest integrated steel facilities in North America. The facility emits particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and greenhouse gases.
The mill is located in Lake County, Indiana, an area designated by EPA as being in serious nonattainment of federal ozone standards. Pollution from Northwest Indiana industrial facilities can also contribute to regional air quality problems that affect residents throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.
The underlying petition identifies multiple deficiencies in the permit, including alleged failures to require adequate monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting of particulate matter emissions, and failures to include crucial compliance, corrective action and maintenance plans. Stronger monitoring and compliance provisions are necessary to ensure the facility complies with applicable clean air requirements.
Even with insufficient monitoring in place, EPA’s own compliance database has consistently shown high-priority Clean Air Act violations at U.S. Steel Gary Works for many years. It is therefore crucial that sufficient monitoring is implemented to identify the true extent of pollution entering local communities.
Dorreen Carey, President, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, said:
“The EPA should do its job and object to the U.S. Steel Gary Works deficient air permit renewal issued by the Indiana Dept of Environmental Management (IDEM) because it fails to comply with all federally enforceable requirements to protect community health and the environment in Gary, Indiana. Gary residents have been exposed to deadly air pollution from Gary Works on a daily basis for more than 100 years. It is time for the EPA to require an updated approach to air pollution control at Gary Works that includes continuous real-time monitoring, timely intervention, corrective action, and enforcement to assure the mill is in compliance with the Clean Air Act.”
Haley Lewis, Senior Attorney at Environmental Integrity Project, said:
“U.S. Steel’s Gary Works facility is a major emitter of dangerous air pollutants that harm people living and working near the plant. We are filing this lawsuit today so that EPA finally responds to our petition to require stronger air pollution monitoring at the plant and provide better public health protections to local residents.”