FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
DETROIT—Sierra Club of Michigan sharply criticized a decision by the
Snyder administration Monday to grant a new permit to Severstal, one of the state’s
leading corporate polluters. The
decision to grant the permit by the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality follows widespread opposition from local Dearborn residents and
environmentalists to granting a new permit to Severstal, which has a long
history of permit violations.
“The decision by the DEQ puts polluters before families in
Dearborn and Detroit and is an outrage,” said Rhonda Anderson, Sierra
Club’s senior organizer. “What the
Snyder administration is saying with this permit is that no matter how many
times you have violated clean air standards in your previous permit we will not
only give you a new one but one that makes it easier to pollute. It seems clear that public health wasn’t even
a consideration in this decision. This is unacceptable, an injustice and an
embarrassment for Michigan.”
Dearborn-based Severstal has been the target of 117 complaints and more that 20 violation notices with the DEQ since 2010. Initially, the DEQ strongly opposed efforts
to weaken its clean air permit, but after the state’s Michigan Economic
Development got involved the agency reversed it position.
Severstal Dearborn is a subsidiary of an international,
Russian-based company, Severstal, which has far-flung mining and manufacturing
interests in Russia, Brazil, Africa and other places.
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