by MARK REUTTER

Three facilities hailed as crucial to reducing chemical and metal wastes at the Sparrows Point steel mill remain unfinished, out of service or never started — 13 years after the company signed a consent decree promising to install the equipment.

The failure to get these recycling projects in operation is a case study of the halting progress made by regulators in enforcing the 1997 Sparrows Point consent decree – the biggest in Maryland history – that was supposed to stop decades of pollution at the mill.

“Our hands are tied by a number of factors,” said Barbara Brown, coordinator of compliance for the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Among those factors? Squishy language in the decree.

The decree, for example, stipulates that if the steel company fails to build the recycling facilities, it will pay up to $1.05 million in fines and donate $250,000 “toward an environmentally beneficial project within the State of Maryland.”

That sounds pretty tough-minded. But the way the decree is worded, only the steel company – not MDE or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – can determine if the projects are to be terminated and the fine paid. As long as the company says it is working on the projects, “we have little ability to pull the trigger and force a resolution,” Brown said.

State regulators, however, have shown little interest in forcing a resolution. A review of MDE records by The Brew found no instance in which the agency pressed the steel mill to complete the promised recycling facilities – or even question why so little progress was made.

“We will move forward,” vowed Brown, who was recently named Sparrows Point coordinator. She replaced Richard Johnson, who supervised the case for MDE from 1997 until last July when he was placed on medical leave.

Wake-up call?

Johnson, who has since returned to the agency, did not respond to e-mails seeking comment. MDE spokesman Jay Apperson referred all questions to Brown. After reviewing the case file at the request of this website, Brown said, “No one [at MDE] flagged these projects for review and enforcement. We appreciate that the Baltimore Brew bought this to our attention.”

Brown said that technical problems have contributed to delays in installing the recycling facilities, noting that at least one facility requires technology that has not been fully developed. Nevertheless, she said a timetable would be established with Severstal Sparrows Point. “We will eyeball them [the projects] and give the company specific time frames for completing the work.”

Severstal spokesperson Bette Kovach said that the company is committed to recycling wherever possible. “These waste minimization efforts are coordinated with requirements outlined in the Multimedia Consent Decree and are intended to fulfill applicable requirements,” she said in a written statement.  (“Multimedia” refers to the fact that the decree covers air, water and solid waste.)

Little Progress Made Since 2002

When MDE, EPA and Bethlehem Steel Corp. signed the decree in 1997, The Sun and other media outlets said that pollution-control projects at Sparrows Point would be completed within four years. The 86-page decree, however, did not give specific deadlines for the completion of any project. Instead, it provided timetables for the completion of work plans for starting projects and for conducting site-wide environmental studies.

In 1999, Bethlehem Steel completed work plans for the three recycling projects, all designed to reduce the amount of mill wastes dumped at Greys Landfill, a 40-acre site near Bear Creek and the I-695 Beltway.

In October 2001, the steelmaker filed for bankruptcy. Sparrows Point was sold to International Steel Group (ISG) in May 2003. Progress on all three projects slowed to a crawl.

For example, a hydrocyclone unit to recycle blast furnace scrubber slurry was successfully pilot-tested in 2002. A full-scale facility was scheduled to open in 2003, but was delayed to 2004, then 2005, then 2007, then 2008, then 2009, then 2010, according to records reviewed under the Maryland Public Information Act.

The current date for construction is “anticipated to start 2011” with no completion date specified. Although engineering designs have been finished, Severstal’s corporate headquarters has failed to authorize the approximately $7 million in capital funds for construction. This is in keeping with the steelmaker’s stringent cost containment at Sparrows Point, which has resulted in a minimal capital budget for 2010 and the threatened termination of 600 jobs.

Oxygen Furnace Unit Closed by Severstal

In 2000, Bethlehem Steel installed equipment to recycle fume sludge in the basic oxygen furnace, as required by the consent decree. Extracting iron from the sludge and recycling it back into the furnace continued until 2008 when Severstal suspended the operation due to “air emission compliance concerns.”

Since then, Severstal said it has tested various ways to reduce the amount of particulate matter in the recycled sludge to comply with air pollution standards. “In-plant feasibility test work was completed in June 2009,” the company reported. The recycling unit, however, has not re-opened and waste from the furnace is taken to Greys Landfill.

The third recycling operation mandated under the consent decree has never gotten beyond the study stage. In its latest report, Severstal says that it spent $5,000 last year to evaluate how enough iron could be extracted from sludge accumulated at its wastewater treatment facility to make the effort economic.

Such studies have gone on since 1999 without the development of a pilot plant. As a result, the wastewater sludge – consisting of high levels of oil, grease and heavy metals – also is trucked to the company’s landfill for burial.

– Mark Reutter can be reached at reuttermark@yahoo.com .