On Friday, September 26, 2008 several residents contacted the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) regarding black smoke and steam, as well as loud noise, coming from the Arcelor/Mittal plant in Burns Harbor.
According to Dave Sampias, IDEM Air Inspector, IDEM is investigating the situation and that this issue occured while Arcelor/Mittal was taking the blast furnace off-line for re-lining. The noise and black air emissions resulted from pressure that needed to be released from out of the top of the furnace. The process of taking a blast furnace off-line must be completed in careful steps for safety reasons. The blast furnace will now be off-line until December. Mr. Sampias did not indicate if any air pollution violations occurred during this incident.
If you ever witness an air or water pollution event, please consider filing a Pollution Complaint with IDEM. This may be accomplished either on-line by visiting http://www.in.gov/idem/5275.htm or by calling the Complaint Coordinator at (800) 451-6027 ext.24464. Spills and environmental emergencies should be immediately reported to IDEM at (888) 233-7745.
When filing a complaint, please provide as much detail as possible about the location of the complaint, when the activity occurred, and what happened. The information submitted may be considered public record and subject to disclosure by IDEM. It may also be submitted anonymously.
For more information on the IDEM Complaints Clearinghouse Program, visit http://www.in.gov/idem/5274.htm.
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