Nov. 24--Allegheny Ludlum Corp. and its contractor, Harsco Corp., will pay a civil penalty of $184,900 for violating air pollution regulations at the steelmaker's plant in Natrona since August 2007, according to a proposed consent order filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

A complaint filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Allegheny County Health Department said Allegheny Ludlum and Harsco have allowed "significant" fugitive emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, soot and hazardous air pollutants to escape from a slag processing area at the silicon steel plant located about 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The consent order, filed in conjunction with the civil lawsuit and agreed to by both companies, requires Harsco to install an emissions control system at a cost of approximately $400,000 and pay operating and maintenance costs in the handling of slag, a waste byproduct of steelmaking. In addition, Harsco must pave and maintain 27,500 square feet of roadway at the Natrona mill site to keep down dust at an estimated cost of $180,000.

The Allegheny Ludlum steel plant is classified as a major air pollution source by the Allegheny County Health Department. According to the complaint, the slag dumping and handling operation had no air pollution controls, a violation of county, state and federal regulations and law.

The proposed consent agreement will be printed in the Federal Register, probably by next week, and public comments will be accepted by the court for 30 days following its publication. A federal judge will then decide whether to accept the settlement. The companies could have been subject to federal and state fines of from $57,500 to $62,500 a day.

The civil penalty payment, when it is made, will be split evenly between the county Health Department and the U.S. Treasury, said Bonnie Smith, an EPA spokeswoman.

Kenneth Julian, a Harsco spokesman, released a statement from the company that said it has installed pollution control equipment, consisting of eight, fan-driven foggers to control quenching emissions at the slag pits, and paved the roads.

"As noted in the consent decree, we have not admitted any allegation, but we do agree that this settlement and the related resolution plan are in the public interest," Harsco said in the statement. "While we are still in the early stages of fine-tuning the FDF system installation, we are optimistic that these actions will have the desired results."

Dan Greenfield, an Allegheny Ludlum spokesman, referred questions to the consent agreement and declined further comment.

Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.

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