Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Air Act

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Clean Air Act

In accordance with Departmental policy, 28 C.F.R. 50.7, notice is

hereby given that a proposed Consent Decree in United States versus

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp., Civil Action No. 93-0195W (N.D.WVA),

was lodged on December 6, 1995, with the United States District Court

for the Northern District of West Virginia. The decree addresses the

violations of Wheeling-Pittsburgh (``Wheeling-Pitt''), at its

Follansbee Coke Plant in Follansbee, West Virginia, of the West

Virginia State Implementation Plan (``SIP''), enforced pursuant to

Section 113 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7413, and certain reporting

requirements contained in the National Emission Standard for Hazardous

Air Pollutants (``NESHAP'') for Benzene Emissions from Coke By-Product

Recovery Plants, 40 C.F.R. Part 61, Subpart L. Wheeling-Pitt violated

the SIP by combusting coke oven gas which had not been desulfurized (as

a result of unplanned outages at the Follansbee furnace by-product

recovery plant, where hydrogen sulfide is stripped from coke oven gas

during normal operations), by allowing raw coke oven gas to be emitted

(``vented'') into the ambient air during two emergencies caused by

elevated gas pressure within coke oven batteries, and by occasional

failures to comply with the SIP's pushing standards.

Under the proposed Consent Decree, Wheeling-Pitt will pay a civil

penalty of $700,000 and has agreed to detailed injunctive provisions.

Wheeling-Pitt has abated all of the SIP violations. As to the SIP's

desulfurization requirements, the Decree requires that, within 45 days

of entry of the Decree, Wheeling-Pitt must have demonstrated full

compliance with the SIP for seven consecutive days. Further, if the

continuous emissions monitor (``CEM'') used to measure compliance with

the desulfurization standards should malfunction, and is out of service

for two consecutive hours, then Wheeling-Pitt must use a backup CEM,

or, failing that, must measure and report certain parameters of the

desulfurization process so that EPA may gauge Wheeling-Pitt's

compliance. The Decree contains, in addition, requirements for

Wheeling-Pitt to install, and properly operate and maintain, a new

hydrogen sulfide scrubber and CEM at the recovery plant. Finally, to

ensure that the recovery plant is operated and maintained adequately,

the Decree contains detailed requirements regarding preventative

maintenance, spare parts inventories, and standard operating

procedures.

As to pushing, Wheeling-Pitt must, within 45 days of entry of the

Decree, demonstrate compliance with the SIP's pushing standard for five

consecutive days. Further, the company must continue to monitor its

pushing operations weekly until it has produced twelve consecutive

weeks of data showing 100% compliance. To correct its violations of the

SIP's pushing standards, Wheeling-Pitt has installed a number of

improvements, including tighter boot seals at the top of the coke

battery wall and a modified hood for the quench car. To abate its

venting violations, Wheeling-Pitt has installed flares at its coke

batteries, as now required under the Coke Oven Battery NESHAP.

The Department of Justice will receive, for a period of thirty (30)

days from the date of this publication, comments relating to the

proposed Consent Decree. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant

Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division,

Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530, and should refer to

United States versus Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp., DOJ Ref. #90-5-2-

1-1868.

The proposed consent decree may be examined at the office of the

United States Attorney, 1100 Main Street, Suite 200, Wheeling, West

Virginia 26003; the Region III Office of the Environmental Protection

Agency, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

[[Page 64077]]

19107; and at the Consent Decree Library, 1120 G Street, NW., 4th

Floor, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 624-0892. A copy of the proposed

consent decree may be obtained in person or by mail from the Consent

Decree Library, 1120 G Street, NW., 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20005. In

requesting a copy please refer to the referenced case and enclose a

check in the amount of $12.75 (25 cents per page reproduction costs),

payable to the Consent Decree Library.

Joel M. Gross,

Acting Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment

and Natural Resources Division.

[FR Doc. 95-30395 Filed 12-12-95; 8:45 am]

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