UPDATE: SunCoke Energy to Pay $2 Million for Alleged Air Pollution -DOJ

(Updates with company comment, updates with latest stock performance)

 
   By Kristin Jones 
 

SunCoke Energy Inc. (SXC) and two of its units have agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations that the company, which produces steelmaking coke, violated emissions limits at plants in Illinois and Ohio, U.S. officials said.

The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency accused the company of violating the Clean Air Act by allowing excess sulphur dioxide and particulate matter to escape from its Gateway Energy and Coke Plant in Granite City, Ill., and Haverhill Coke Plant in Franklin Furnace, Ohio.

President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Thomson said that the company is "pleased to reach an agreement that strengthens our already strict environmental protection protocols."

Coke oven emissions can cause cancer and other serious health impacts. Sulphur dioxide contributes to acid rain and exacerbates respiratory problems, while particulate pollution can lead to health problems including aggravated asthma and premature death in people with heart or lung disease.

Both facilities are located in areas that don't meet federal health standards for soot, and the Illinois facility is in an area that doesn't meet the air pollution standard for lead.

SunCoke and its two subsidiaries also agreed to spend $255,000 to reduce lead hazards in low-income residences in southern Illinois. They will pay a federal penalty of $1.27 million and will pay $575,000 to the state of Illinois and $150,000 to Ohio. The companies will spend an additional $100 million at the two coking facilities to route hot coking gases to pollution-control equipment instead of directly into the environment and $700,000 on equipment to monitor sulfur-dioxide emissions at its two problematic facilities.

If emissions at a third facility in Middletown, Ohio, also exceed the threshold, then the company will have to install additional equipment to control pollution there too.

Communities in Illinois and Ohio "will benefit from these substantial reductions in harmful air pollution and enjoy cleaner, healthier air to breathe for many years to come," said Robert G. Dreher, acting assistant attorney general.

SunCoke launched as a public company earlier this year. The company is a supplier to steelmakers AK Steel Holding Corp. (AKS) and ArcelorMittal (MT).

Shares of SunCoke were down fractionally at $14.14 after hours. The stock is down 9% since the start of the year.

Write to Kristin Jones at [e-mail]

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