Cleveland-Cliffs Steel LLC and Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor LLC
Outcome
Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to pay $3 million civil penalty, install cyanide and ammonia treatment systems, and donate 127 acres to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, after a 2019 cyanide and ammonia discharge from the Burns Harbor steel mill caused fish kills and seven days of beach closures along the Indiana Dunes.
Details
Cleveland-Cliffs Steel — Cyanide and Ammonia Discharge, Indiana Dunes Fish Kill (2022)
Outcome: Cleveland-Cliffs agreed to pay $3 million civil penalty, install cyanide treatment and ammonia-nitrogen treatment pilot systems, and donate approximately 127 acres to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, after a 2019 steel mill discharge caused fish kills in the Burns Waterway and closed Indiana Dunes beaches for seven days.
In August 2019, Cleveland-Cliffs Steel LLC's Burns Harbor steel manufacturing facility in northern Indiana experienced an unpermitted discharge of cyanide and ammonia nitrogen into the Burns Waterway. The discharge, which violated the facility's Clean Water Act NPDES permit by exceeding effluent limits for both pollutants by significant margins, traveled to Lake Michigan and caused documented fish kills in the Burns Waterway. The contamination reached Lake Michigan's shoreline, resulting in the closure of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore beaches for seven consecutive days during the summer recreation season.
The violations triggered enforcement under three statutes: the Clean Water Act (unauthorized discharge of cyanide and ammonia), the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA, for reportable releases of regulated substances), and CERCLA (for the release of a hazardous substance). The settlement, announced February 14, 2022, required the company to pay a $3 million civil penalty split with the State of Indiana, install cyanide treatment systems at the Burns Harbor facility, develop and implement pilot ammonia-nitrogen treatment systems, establish enhanced monitoring programs at the facility's wastewater outfalls, and donate approximately 127 acres of company-owned property to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore as a supplemental environmental benefit.
The Burns Harbor facility is one of the largest integrated steel mills in the United States. The case illustrates the environmental proximity risk of heavy industrial facilities located adjacent to Great Lakes shorelines and national park lands — a geographic reality that creates amplified public impact from any wastewater management failure.
Primary Source: Cleveland-Cliffs Steel LLC and Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor LLC Settlement | US EPA
How Crucible Prevents This
A sudden discharge event causing fish kills and public beach closures reflects a process failure traceable to absent or inadequate spill prevention protocols. Crucible's pre-tool-check requiring documented process safety procedures, combined with EPCRA release reporting calendar entries for facilities using regulated quantities of cyanide, would have surfaced compliance gaps before the discharge event. The EPCRA and CERCLA violations — both triggered by the same release — illustrate multi-statute exposure from a single operational failure.
Don't let this happen to your organization. See how Crucible works.
See How Crucible Works