Two Northwest Indiana activism groups joined other environmental groups in sending a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in objection to an air monitoring permit recently approved for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Indiana Harbor facility.

The petition alleges that a permit recently issued to Cleveland-Cliffs from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management falls “significantly short of basic provisions, including failure to include monitoring, testing and recordkeeping” to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act.

“If this permit is approved as is, the Cleveland-Cliffs facilities (at Indiana Harbor in East Chicago) will likely release harmful emissions into the air…” Ellis Walton, associate attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said in a Monday news release. “The communities of East Chicago and Gary suffer many environmental injustices already and shouldn’t be forced to bear even more harms from local industry.”

Cleveland-Cliffs did not respond to a request for comment about the petition.

Walton alleges that emissions released would include PM10 ultrafine particulate matter and nitrous oxide above limitations in the Clean Air Act, according to a news release.

The petition asks IDEM to redo its permit for PM10 emission limits applicable to Baghouses #187 and #188 at Indiana Harbor East; NOx emission limits at No. 6 Batch Anneal facilities at Indiana Harbor East; and NESHAP Subpart DDDDD requirements for Boilers No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8 at Indiana Harbor West.

IDEM said permitting decisions are made based on an applicant’s ability to demonstrate compliance with all applicable state and federal requirements, pursuant to the Clean Air Act.

“The Cleveland Cliffs Indiana Harbor Part 70 Operating Permits were issued following an EPA review and comment period,” IDEM wrote in an emailed statement. “Specific questions about the petition and next steps should be directed to the U.S. EPA.”

Draft renewal permits were posted for public comment on Nov. 3, 2023, according to the petition. Public comment periods are 30 days.

ELPC requested a public comment extension and a public hearing on Nov. 13, 2023, but IDEM did not respond prior to the end of the comment period. On Dec. 20, 2023, IDEM announced a Jan. 10, 2024 public hearing and said the public notice period would end on Jan. 16, 2024.EPA Region 5 also submitted two comment letters addressing the renewal permits on Dec. 4, 2023.

IDEM submitted renewal permits for EPA review on Feb. 17, 2025, and the agency’s review period ended without an agency objection.

However, the petition alleges that IDEM disregarded concerns made by the EPA during the public comment period.

“IDEM’s renewal of the Cleveland-Cliffs air permit fails to protect the residents of surrounding communities from decades-long and ongoing exposure to health-harming air pollutants that are the proven cause of significant increases in respiratory diseases (like asthma), cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks), cancers at numerous sites, and premature deaths,” said Gary Advocates for Responsible Development President Dorreen Carey. “The current outmoded and insufficient methods of emission monitoring in the Cleveland-Cliffs air permit renewal cannot assure continuous compliance and enforcement of the Clean Air Act. EPA must act to object to this permit renewal and meet its obligation to protect human health and the environment.”

An October report from Industrious Labs found that most residents in Gary are in the top 10% of U.S. residents most at-risk for developing asthma and low life expectancy. In 2020, Indiana had a lung cancer rate of 72.5 per 100,000 people, with Lake County as one of the state’s counties with the highest cancer mortality rates, according to the American Lung Association.

A 2016 report from the JAMA Network also found Gary as one of the five U.S. cities with the lowest life expectancy at one point.

Susan Thomas, director of policy and press for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said in a news release that the health of children, communities and environment suffers direct harm from IDEM and industry actions.

“Cleveland-Cliffs is fully capable of implementing best-available technologies and practices and should do so as any responsible corporate neighbor would,” Thomas said. “IDEM is supposed to protect us and has failed its obligation in this permit.”

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com