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EPA Accepting Comments on ArcelorMittal Requests for Hazardous Waste Injection
Feb. 26, 2010 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 is accepting public comments until April 7 on ArcelorMittal's requests to continue injecting hazardous waste deep underground at its Burns Harbor facility in Indiana.
ArcelorMittal has three existing underground injection wells and plans to construct a fourth. The company has an exemption from the federal ban on disposal of hazardous waste underground known as a "land ban exemption," and three injection well permits from EPA. It has requested renewal of the land ban exemption and three existing permits as well as a fourth permit for a new well.
After reviewing the requests, EPA found the company has shown that injected waste will not threaten underground sources of drinking water, so therefore it plans to grant the request.
An open house will be held on March 24 at the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission in Portage, Ind., with a public hearing to follow that same day.
EPA originally granted the land ban exemption and three existing permits in 1990. The permits would be valid for 10 years and the exemption until Dec. 31, 2027.