As the phrase goes, “Don’t mess with Mother Nature,” well Cleveland – Cliffs learned this lesson the hard way, after an environmental disaster occurred in 2019.
Active cleanup and environmental improvements at the Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor steel mill in Indiana focus on correcting long-term water and air violations. Following a 2019 environmental disaster, the facility is under a consent decree to improve wastewater treatment, manage slag dust, and, as of 2026, manage air emissions, aiming to prevent cyanide and ammonia discharges into Lake Michigan.
Land Conservation:
As part of the settlement, 127 acres of Cleveland-Cliffs property worth $2 million was transferred to the Shirley Heinze Land Trust for ecological restoration, with the intention of eventually incorporating it into the adjacent Indiana Dunes National Park.
Key Aspects of Current Cleanup and Compliance:
- Water Quality Improvements: Cleveland-Cliffs is required to upgrade its wastewater treatment system, including a dedicated ammonia treatment system and a retention pond to prevent further discharges of toxic cyanide and ammonia-nitrogen into the Little Calumet River and Lake Michigan.
- Air Pollution Controls (2025-2026): Following a 2025 settlement for Clean Air Act violations, the EPA mandated that contractor Phoenix Global install new equipment to manage dust from slag, a byproduct containing toxic compounds like chromium, lead, and arsenic.
- Settlement and Penalties: The settlement, enforced by the EPA and environmental groups, required $3 million in civil penalties and the transfer of 127 acres of land near the Indiana Dunes National Park for conservation.
- Ongoing Monitoring: The facility is under strict monitoring to manage “once-through” water flow, ensuring that future operations do not result in fish kills or beach closures.
Air Pollution Mitigation
Consent Decree Enforcement: Under a federal consent decree, the facility continues to remediate the damage from a major August 2019 incident where a pump failure discharged excessive amounts of ammonia and cyanide into the East Branch of the Little Calumet River, causing severe fish kills and beach closures.
Upgraded Wastewater Systems: Cleveland-Cliffs is required to construct a new ammonia treatment system at its blast furnaces and follow strict sampling and emergency procedures to ensure wastewater is safely handled.
Emissions Controls: The EPA fined Cleveland-Cliffs $248,396 for Clean Air Act violations alone, stemming from its basic oxygen furnace shop. To resolve this, the company is implementing process controls to reduce particulate matter and hazardous air pollutants.
On-Site Contractor Cleanup: The EPA reached a $190,860 settlement with Phoenix Global, a contractor that processes slag at the Burns Harbor site.
The company is Required to-
- Blast Furnace Maintenance Delays: Cleveland-Cliffs postponed a critical maintenance investment on its blast furnace until 2027. Local environmental advocates continue to pressure the company to transition to clean steelmaking technologies rather than reinvesting in coal-dependent infrastructure.
Port Greening Initiatives
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- Runoff Control Trees: The Port of Burns Harbor has planted 400 hundred native trees to naturally soak up stormwater runoff and capture hazardous dust. This helps form a protective buffer for the sensitive ecosystems within the adjacent Indiana Dunes.
Local Environmental Impacts
The surrounding community faces substantial ongoing ecological challenges: [1]- Air Quality Burden: Northwest Indiana continues to suffer from high rates of particle pollution. Burns Harbor remains one of the largest emitters of sulfur dioxide (\(SO_{2}\)), nitrogen oxides (\(NO_{x}\)), and fine particulate matter (\(PM_{2.5}\)) in the state.
- Greening the Port: To combat immediate runoff and dust issues, the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor has planted over 400 trees—such as cedar and jack pine—to absorb stormwater and physically trap industrial dust.
Runoff Management:
Enhanced stormwater and groundwater monitoring are maintained to prevent toxins from leaching into Lake Michigan and the nearby Indiana Dunes National Park. required to install dust suppression equipment to curb the release of hazardous metals like manganese, chromium, lead, and arsenic.
With all this cost and expense to Cleveland Cliffs, one has to wonder what will happen from the 15 Billion Dollar Amazon Data Center in Hobart indiana that is only 16 Miles from Burns Harbor. (SEE MAP ABOVE)
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Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
