______
United States
Steel Corporation
Joseph
J. Pricener
I
Law Department
Attorney
600GrantStreet
Pittsburgh, PA
15219-2800
RK’S
OFFICE
Tel: 412.4332892
Fax:412.433.2811
E-mail: jjpriceneruss.com
OCT
2g
2009
Poiiuo
STATE
OF
Control
ILLINOIS
Board
October 16,
2009
John Therriault
Assistant Clerk of the Board
L
Illinois
Pollution Control Board
100 W. Randolph Street, Suite 11-500
Chicago, IL 60601
Re:
In the Matter of Petition of Westwood Lands, Inc. for an
Adjusted
Standard
AS 09-03
Dear
Mr. Therriault:
Please accept this letter on behalf
of the United States Steel Corporation
(“U. S.
Steel”) in support of the
Westwood Lands, Inc.’s petition for an Adjusted
Standard. As further explained below,
U. S.
Steel believes
that the Board should find
Illinois’ waste handling/permitting
regulations inapplicable
to
Westwood’s
processing
of steel slag fines because
such fines are a useful product rather than
a
waste.
In the
alternative, if
the
Board
finds that steel slag fines are
a
waste,
then U. S. Steel
believes
an adjusted standard is appropriate given the de minimis environmental
impact which results from processing
such fines.
I. Steel slag fines are not a waste
As their name suggests, steel slag fines (“fines”) are
a
fraction of the
steel
slag produced during the steel making process (as opposed
to slag
which is
formed
in the iron making process).
Steel slag
generally
consists of calcium silicates and
ferrites combined with fused
oxides of iron,
aluminum,
manganese, calcium and
magnesium.
For decades it has been sold for a
number
of applications including,
but
not limited to, asphalt aggregate, fill, cement manufacturing raw feed, and road
construction.1
However, given the valuable metallic content of the slag, the steel industry
continuously strives
to develop processes to
remove
as much of the metal as
possible
to be
recycled
in its operations.
Thus,
fines
are the end result of
slag
being
crushed and
screened
to the point where mills
can no
longer remove the metal from
the slag.
1
We encourage the Board
to
visit
the National Slag Association’s website
at
http://www.nationalslag.org/
for a more complete overview
of
steel slag applications.
John Therriault
October
16, 2009
Page 2
Even
though
U. S.
Steel lacks
the
capability
to
utilize
slag fines
in
its
operation,
the fines
are still
very
valuable
given
their
metallic
content.
We
depend on
operations
such
as Westwood
to
extract the
metallic
portion of
the fines
to form
easily
manageable
briquettes
and
nuggets
which can
be
returned
to our furnaces
to
make
steel.
In
this way,
fines
are
just one
of the
raw
materials
in the
steel
making
process.
Our
review
of Illinois
case
law
concludes
that
the
seminal
principle
in
the
waste
analysis
is
that, in
order
for material
to
be deemed
a
product
instead
of a
waste,
it
must
be
returned
to
the economic
mainstream.
Alternate
Fuels,
Inc., v.
Director
of
the
Illinois Environmental
Protection
Agency,
830 N.E.2d
444
(2005).
Westwood’s
process
is
indeed designed
to
return the
fines back
to the
economic
mainstream.
Clearly,
U. S. Steel
will be pUrchasing
the
metal briquettes
and nuggets
for its
steel
making.
The remaining
silicate
materials
are
a
valuable commodity
as
well. Silicate
has many
uses including
cement
manufacturing,
concrete
admixtures,
landfill
covering,
abandoned
mine
reclamation,
and
fertilizer.
Accordingly,
Westwood’s
process
satisfies
the
AFI criteria
and,
therefore,
the fines
are not
a
waste.
II.
Approval
of adjusted
standard.
Should
the
Board conclude
that
the
fines
are
a waste, then
U. S.
Steel
believes
the
environmentally
benign
nature
of such
fines qualifies
Westwood’s
operations
for
an
adjusted
standard.
It seems
that the
Board’s
solid
waste
regulations
in
Parts 807
and 810
are directed
at
facilities
whose operations
are likely
to
create
environmental
hazards.
For such
facilities,
permitting
requirements
and
local siting
approval
are
appropriate
given
the immediate
impact
on the
surrounding
communities.
However,
Westwood’s
operations
are
not
comparable
to
waste
disposal
facilities
in
this regard.
Steel
slag
fines will
be
Westwood’s
only
feedstock.
We note
that federal
regulations
expressly
exclude
slag from
the definition
of a
hazardous
waste
via
the
Bevill
amendment.
See
40 CFR
261
.4(b)(7).
Moreover,
the
fines
that Westwood
will
receive
from
U. S. Steel
have been
tested
to
ensure
that
they do
not
contain
other
hazardous
constituents.
We also
understand
that steel
fines from
other mills
will
be
subject to
the
same
testing
protocol.
More
importantly,
Westwood’s
process
does
not
create
a
waste stream
on
the back
end,
meaning
that there
will
be
no emissions,
discharges
or
releases
to
the
land
directly.
Therefore,
the granting
of an
adjusted
standard
will not
negatively
impact
the environment
in any way.
John
Therriauit
October
16,
2009
Page 3
Conclusion
To
summarize, U. S. Steel
emphatically
believes that steel
slag fines are not
a
waste
because they can
be
processed
to form two useful
products — metal
and
silica. Even
if the Board
concludes they are
a
waste, then
an adjusted standard
is
appropriate given
Westwood’s
operation’s
negligible
impact
on the environment.
Lastly,
we hope the
Board recognizes
the
value
of
Westwood’s
operation,
not
only
to U. S. Steel,
but the entire
steel industry as
a whole. Without
such an
operation, much
of the metallic
content of slag would
be lost. We also
hope
the
Board appreciates
the positive economic
impact
that Westwood’s operation
will have
on the City
of Madison, which
supports
Westwood’s
proposal.
Sincerely,
/
Joseph Pricener