by MARK REUTTER

The Maryland Department of the Environment has stepped up pressure on Severstal North America, subpoenaing records dating back to January 2008 regarding the release of pollutants by the Sparrows Point blast furnace.

The agency’s action, described yesterday by MDE officials as “extremely unusual,” comes after Severstal refused to voluntarily submit information to the agency.  And, in a twist that’s equally unusual, the  Baltimore Brew’s name comes up prominently in the dispute.

MDE made a request for information after an article in the Brew disclosed that a large number of furnace slips and “belches” have taken place since a September explosion showered the steel mill with fist-sized flaming debris.

 Sources say the mammoth 300-foot-high “L” furnace continues to operate poorly, causing hot gases and particulate matter to escape from “dirty-bleeder” valves in alleged violation of air quality standards.

The furnace began malfunctioning after the Russian owners of Sparrows Point shut down a key processing plant, known as a sintering mill, and shifted the furnace to an “all-pellet” diet.

Russian engineers now monitoring the plant, sources say, insist that the malfunctions – which have caused delays in production as well as costly damage to equipment – are the result of improper furnace practices by Sparrows Point personnel.

 Severstal argued in a January 8 letter that answering the agency’s request for information “would be wholly inappropriate, as it is based on a false premise… Severstal Sparrows disagrees that furnace slips are causing frequent and substantial releases of uncontrolled excess emissions.”

 Severstal further complained that MDE misidentified the name of the Baltimore Brew. “In its opening sentence, the letter references a publication entitled ‘the Daily Brew.’ We are not aware of any publication by that name. We assume that you may be referencing the Baltimore Brew, a local internet-based blog.

 “However, your letter does not identify by date, or by author, or by website link, the article to which you refer.” The letter referred to the Brew as a website containing “hearsay, rumors and accusation.”

Michael F. Strande, assistant attorney general for MDE, issued a three-page subpoena to the company last week, demanding an information report of pollutants released by the dirty-bleeder valves at the L furnace between January 1, 2008 and the present.

The subpoena also requests documents relating to changes made in the furnace’s raw-material feed, copies of the plant newsletter and “any records referring or relating to any malfunction occurring between January 1, 2009 and the present.”

Scott R. Dismukes, a Severstal lawyer in Pittsburgh, acknowledged receipt of the subpoena, which calls on the steelmaker to produce the documents by mid-February.

FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION

“Fire and debris erupt from Sparrows Point” (Sept. 30, 2009)

“Sparrows Point furnace fire more serious than publicly reported” (Nov. 3, 2009)

“Sparrows Point furnace ‘belches’ continue: worried workers blame company cost-cutting” (Dec. 15, 2009)