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Attorney General Mike DeWine
Judge orders
abandoned steel plant to treat wastewater
(WARREN, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency Director Craig W. Butler today announced that a
Trumbull County judge has granted the state’s request for a temporary
restraining order against Warren Steel, after it shut down last week,
abandoning hazardous chemicals and wastewater on its site.
The order, granted yesterday by Judge Andrew Logan, requires Warren
Steel to continue operating its wastewater treatment plant (to prevent
industrial wastewater from overflowing into the Mahoning River), to
properly secure hazardous waste and chemicals left on the site, and to
properly secure the facility according to state environmental
protection laws.
“Our primary concern is public safety,” Attorney General DeWine said.
“We don’t want industrial wastewater from this facility to overflow
into the Mahoning River, or dangerous chemicals left at the site to
cause a fire or explosion or jeopardize the health of children or
adults.”
“We are holding Warren Steel accountable to ensure that nothing is left
at the site that could pose a threat to public health or the
environment,” said Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler. “We won’t let
them walk away from their obligations here in Ohio.”
Warren Steel Holdings LLC owns and operates a steel production facility
at 4000 Mahoning Ave. in Warren. About Jan. 14, it permanently stopped
operations, abandoning hazardous chemicals at the site and stopping
operation of its wastewater treatment plant, which created the risk
that precipitation would cause untreated wastewater to overflow from
the plant and into the Mahoning River.
Over the weekend, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency inspected
the site and discovered that wastewater treatment lagoons had filled to
dangerously high levels. To reduce the chance of overflow, the Ohio EPA
worked with the facility’s electric provider and a former Warren Steel
employee to keep the wastewater treatment plant in operation.
Yesterday, the Attorney General, on behalf of the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency, filed a complaint and a motion for a temporary
restraining order against Warren Steel, charging the company with
violations of hazardous waste laws, solid waste laws, water pollution
laws, and cessation-of-regulated-operations laws.
A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29.
Copies of the state's complaint and motion for the temporary
restraining order and a copy of the court order are available on the
Ohio Attorney General’s website.
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