PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has
issued a wastewater permit for U.S. Steel Midwest’s mill in Portage.
IDEM spokeswoman Amy Hartsock told The Times of Munster that the agency’s
Office of Water Quality issued the five-year permit with essentially no
changes from the draft permit released late last year. IDEM officials said
at the time there were no pollutant increases in the permit. The
Post-Tribune reported that the mill had been operating under a permit that
expired in 1995. U.S. Steel Midwest discharges 103 million gallons of
wastewater into Burns Ditch, which flows into Lake Michigan.
The deadline to appeal the permit is Feb. 18.