July 10, 2025
Environmental and community groups submitted a petition on July 3 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking it to object to an inadequate air permit renewal the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) recently issued to U.S. Steel Gary Works in Indiana. The permit fails to include many basic provisions of the Clean Air Act, including clear and enforceable monitoring, testing and recordkeeping requirements sufficient to assure compliance with all applicable requirements.
The Environmental Law & Policy Center, Conservation Law Center, Environmental Integrity Project, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, BP & Whiting Watch, Northern Lake County Environmental Partnership, National Parks Conservation Association, and other groups contend that IDEM disregarded key concerns that U.S. EPA and other Commenters raised about the permits during the public comment period.
The U.S. Steel Gary Works integrated steel mill is located along the Northwest Indiana shoreline at the southernmost point of Lake Michigan, adjacent to Indiana Dunes National Park. It began operations in 1909 and was previously the largest integrated steel mill in the world. At 4,000 acres, it remains the largest in the U.S. today. Residents living nearby have been exposed to higher levels of air pollution for decades compared to most communities nationwide.
Kerri Gefeke, Associate Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, said:
“U.S. EPA should object to this permit because it’s inconsistent with the Clean Air Act and The Region’s Hoosiers should not feel like they are living in a sacrifice zone. Numerous studies show that residents living near Gary Works already suffer from some of the highest rates of air pollution in the nation – resulting in high rates of asthma, cancer, and other diseases.
“IDEM needs to do better and ensure that Gary Works is operating in a way that is not only economically lucrative but also protective of human health. IDEM can do that by simply ensuring that the permits it issues follow the law and include the necessary monitoring provisions to ensure that Gary Works – and similar facilities – are not polluting more than what’s allowable in their permits.”
Dorreen Carey, President of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, said:
“For over 100 years Gary’s residents have been continuously exposed to the daily, monthly, and yearly air pollution from the iron and steelmaking process including particulate matter, NOx, SO2, and hazardous air pollutants like mercury and lead. Upgrades in air pollution monitoring and control at Gary Works are long overdue. The outdated and insufficient requirements for Gary Works air emission monitoring contained in the IDEM Title V Permit Renewal do not allow for continuous real time information, timely intervention, and the corrective action needed to assure compliance and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
“EPA must object to this deficient IDEM Permit Renewal and require revisions to the air monitoring methodology that will include updated and supplemental monitoring of emissions and opacity limits to ensure permit compliance and current and ongoing protection of Gary residents’ health and environment.”
Susan Thomas, Policy Director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said:
“The most basic environmental management provisions like monitoring, testing, recordkeeping and reporting requirements are shamefully absent in this permit request. U.S. Steel Gary Works is already one of the worst polluters in the region, continuously skirting environmental laws.
“This dangerous situation is totally unacceptable and unprecedented, opening the door to an “anything goes” model for industry pollution standards in a community that has historically been pushed to the brink. Access to clean air, safe water, and healthy soil is a fundamental human right, one that Gary, and every community, deserves without compromise.”