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U.S. Steel Chemical Spill Exceeds Allowable Limit by 584 Times
A U.S. Steel plant in Portage, Indiana spilled nearly 300 pounds of a cancer-causing chemical into Burns Waterway last month, documents from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) revealed.

The release of hexavalent chromium was 584 times the daily maximum limit allowed under state law, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported, citing the documents. The plant is permitted to release only a maximum of 0.51 pounds daily.

The toxic industrial byproduct was made infamous by the environmental activist and 2000 movie of the same name, "Erin Brockovich."

The leak occurred between April 11 and April 12 and forced the closure of several Lake Michigan beaches and Indiana American Water's intake in Ogden Dunes. Burns Waterway is a tributary that flows into Lake Michigan, a drinking water source for nearby Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.


Following the spill, U.S. Steel has committed to sampling and monitoring lake water on a weekly basis to ensure it is safe through the swimming season, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokesperson said. The discharge was reportedly caused by a pipe failure.

Sam Henderson, a staff attorney for the Hoosier Environmental Council, denounced the spill.

"If U.S. Steel had set up its system responsibly, it wouldn't have been possible for a single mechanical failure to dump nearly 300 pounds of hexavalent chrome into Lake Michigan," Henderson told the Times of Northwest Indiana.

"Spills like this show that U.S. Steel isn't taking that responsibility seriously. Industry needs to step up."

The chemical spill highlights concerns over the Trump's administration's proposed cuts to abolish the Integrated Risk Information System, the EPA office working on hexavalent chromium standards in drinking water. The cuts would also affect funding for scientific reviews of toxic chemicals and decrease the EPA's enforcement of environmental laws.

Henderson noted that IDEM's budget "has been slashed to the bone, and we see the consequences of that in accidents like these." IDEM is Indiana's agency charged with protecting the state's environment and human health.

"Now we face the risk that EPA will be severely cut back as well," Henderson said. "If those cuts go through, nobody will be minding the store. And if nobody's minding the store, it's inevitable that spills like this will become more common."

Cindy Skrukrud, clean water program director for Sierra Club Illinois, added that U.S. Steel's spill "illustrates the need we have for a robust EPA to prevent and respond to situations like this."

"We cannot bear cuts to the EPA staff and to its programs that protect the Great Lakes from pollution and cleanup legacy contamination sites. We are all depending on the EPA as we seek answers to the remaining questions about the impacts of the spill on the aquatic life in Burns Waterway," Skrukrud continued. "As potential penalties are considered, they should include funding for restoration projects in and near the impacted areal."

U.S. Steel said last month it takes all incidents "very seriously" and are "fully committed to researching and taking corrective actions to prevent a future occurrence."

The beaches and water intake reopened on April 17 after EPA water samples detected no levels of hexavalent chromium.

However, last month the National Park Service staff said they were concerned about the long-term potential impacts to beach users' health, wildlife and other park resources.

"Lake currents and waves have the ability to move this hazardous material onto park beaches at a later date," the park service said in a news release.


Officials said that periodic beach patrols will be looking for evidence of fish kills or other environmental damage.

So how would we know if the fish we catch n eat from the lake have this???

Hey Noah. I might not be 100% correct, but if the fish were affected by this chemical you would be catching dead fish.

Will they glow in the dark?

First, let me unequivocally state I think it’s terrible the HC spill occurred. I don’t think US Steel should even be allowed to put a half pound of the stuff into Burns Ditch each day. Same for other pollutants.

I’m glad The Times did a follow-up story on the incident, though the only new “news” in the article is the exact amount spilled has now been determined.

The rest of the article is nothing more than political editorializing in the form of “news” and in keeping with the normal slant of the liberal media the problem was #1) Trump’s fault - #2) Pence’s fault (from when he was governor of Indiana, I guess) and somehow proposed budget cuts to the EPA and past budgets of IDEM forced U.S. Steel to install weak pipes. I'm not sure there's a Russian connection.

What part of Trump’s proposed cuts to the EPA budget caused the pipe to break? Remember, the cuts are PROPOSED, not actual. Whatever pipe inspectors or pipe regulations present before the election are still there. What part of IDEM’s budget caused or even allowed US Steel to have a defective pipe? Does IDEM have a team of laid-off “pipe-sniffers” that would have saved the day if only they’d been on the job?

If there’s blame to be assigned, it falls squarely on U.S. Steel and I’d guess internally, there’s some guys who are getting their butt kicked. Externally, I’m sure it’s going to cost U.S. Steel plenty in terms of legal fees and fines.

It’s a shame the Hex spill occurred. It’s also a shame The Times felt the need to editorialize - or allowed their reporters to editorialize - in the news section.

"If U.S. Steel had set up its system responsibly, it wouldn't have been possible for a single mechanical failure to dump nearly 300 pounds of hexavalent chrome into Lake Michigan," Henderson told the Times of Northwest Indiana.

"Spills like this show that U.S. Steel isn't taking that responsibility seriously. Industry needs to step up."

I read it as the blame was put squarely on US Steel, not Trump and proposed budget cuts.

Those proposed budget cuts are real and no matter your political leanings, should be something we are all concerned about. Deregulation of industry pollution standards and defunding the agencies that are responsible for testing and enforcement will NOT lead to a cleaner, pollution free environment.

BNature wrote:

First, let me unequivocally state I think it’s terrible the HC spill occurred. I don’t think US Steel should even be allowed to put a half pound of the stuff into Burns Ditch each day. Same for other pollutants.

I’m glad The Times did a follow-up story on the incident, though the only new “news” in the article is the exact amount spilled has now been determined.

The rest of the article is nothing more than political editorializing in the form of “news” and in keeping with the normal slant of the liberal media the problem was #1) Trump’s fault - #2) Pence’s fault (from when he was governor of Indiana, I guess) and somehow proposed budget cuts to the EPA and past budgets of IDEM forced U.S. Steel to install weak pipes. I'm not sure there's a Russian connection.

What part of Trump’s proposed cuts to the EPA budget caused the pipe to break? Remember, the cuts are PROPOSED, not actual. Whatever pipe inspectors or pipe regulations present before the election are still there. What part of IDEM’s budget caused or even allowed US Steel to have a defective pipe? Does IDEM have a team of laid-off “pipe-sniffers” that would have saved the day if only they’d been on the job?

If there’s blame to be assigned, it falls squarely on U.S. Steel and I’d guess internally, there’s some guys who are getting their butt kicked. Externally, I’m sure it’s going to cost U.S. Steel plenty in terms of legal fees and fines.

It’s a shame the Hex spill occurred. It’s also a shame The Times felt the need to editorialize - or allowed their reporters to editorialize - in the news section.

Excellent reading and points. To lose the amount of HC there had to be a major break in a pipe or a joint failure. Working in the piping industry for way to long, I have seen things like this happen but usually in high pressure applications or corrosive environments. I have seen way more spills and releases due to human error during maintainence procedures and not having a proper system lotto.

584 times higher then what is allowed is not good. Close to 2 years amount released in 1 day. Actually a 4 hr. period. Started at 2am. wasn't discovered until 6am. Came from my old department. Glad at least the NWI times gave up the information on what amount really we are dealing with.
4 beaches will be getting tested thru the summer. This stuff doesn't just evaporate.

I just read that the new EPA administration is issuing permits to go ahead on the Pebble Mine out on Bristol Bay. It's very hard to stay positive about the current state of affairs in this country. I see positives and negatives on both sides of the aisle politically, but there is nothing redeeming about the man at the wheel right now. We don't need to cut ourselves down to the human rights and environmental mental standards of China to have a healthy economy, but that sure looks like his plan.