Dive Brief:
- Environmental advocacy groups have sued the Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly failing to respond to a petition challenging the renewal of a clean air permit for U.S. Steel’s largest mill in Gary, Indiana.
- The plaintiffs — The Environmental Law & Policy Center, Environmental Integrity Project, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development and Just Transition Northwest Indiana — seek a court order requiring the EPA to grant or deny their petition originally filed July 3, 2025.
- They argued that U.S. Steel’s Title V operating permit failed to include adequate monitoring and compliance provisions ensuring the mill can operate within certain air pollution limits. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA has a 60-day deadline to respond to petitions. More than ten months later, the agency has yet to act on the groups’ petition, an ELPC spokesperson confirmed to ESG Dive sister publication Manufacturing Dive Tuesday.
Dive Insight:
The lawsuit comes as U.S. Steel looks to bolster its domestic operations under the ownership of Japan-based parent company Nippon Steel.
Most recently, U.S. Steel’s board of directors approved $475 million in funding to install a quench and tempering line at its Birmingham, Alabama facility. The steelmaker also plans to invest up to $2.5 billion across its Mon Valley Works sites in Pennsylvania and to restart its tin operations at Gary Works in Indiana next year.
At the same time, Gary residents have pressured U.S. Steel to update the town’s mill with technology that reduces air pollution and improves worker health and safety, as well as the facility’s longevity. In late May, more than 120 people held a town hall where they raised concerns that a significant portion of the $3.1 billion designated for Gary would go toward outdated coal-based equipment.
“Environmental stewardship is a core value at U.S. Steel, and we remain committed to the safety of our communities as do our more than 4,000 Gary Works employees,” a spokesperson said in an email Tuesday.
When asked about the environmental groups’ air permit petition and what it could mean for the company’s investment strategy, U.S. Steel declined to comment, saying it was not an active party in the lawsuit.
The EPA also declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
In the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Washington D.C., the environmental groups argued that Gary Works’ emissions, including nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants, contribute to ground-level ozone and adversely impact nearby residents’ health — such as increased risk of asthma, lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes.
On April 29, 2024, they submitted public comments to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on the draft renewal of the facility’s clean air permit. The state submitted the proposed permit to the EPA for review on March 21, 2025, and issued a final renewal permit to Gary Works on May 7, 2025.
On July 3, 2025, the groups filed a petition urging the EPA to object to the permit. They argued the permit failed to include adequate monitoring requirements to ensure compliance with particulate matter emission limits, Lake County opacity limits and coal pulverization limits. The groups also claimed that it lacked compliance monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements to assure compliance with blast furnace limits, as well as corrective action and maintenance plans.
“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,” Max Lopez, associate attorney at ELPC, said in a statement.
Gary Works is U.S. Steel’s largest manufacturing plant, according to the company’s website. It can produce up to 7.5 million net tons of steel per year.
