Schnitzer Steel Facilities Cited for 'Dangerous' Emissions Discharge

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The environmental group Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has sued Schnitzer Steel Industries for repeated violation of the Clean Water Act by the company’s three New Hampshire facilities. A similar suit, involving Schnitzer Steel’s seven facilities in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, has also been filed by CLF.

In a lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. District Court in Concord, the environmental group alleged that the Portland, Oregon-based steel manufacturing and metal recycling company has violated the federal Act by discharging heavy metals into Merrimack River watershed over the past five years. A few of these discharges exceeded environmental guidelines by a factor of more than 100.

ALSO READ:

Schnitzer Steel Fiscal 2021 Sustainability Report Highlights Major Progress

Schnitzer Steel Announced Robust Results in Q1 Fiscal 2022

The lawsuit named three discharge locations- one on Poplar Avenue, which discharges into the South End Marsh, another on Sandquist Street, where the discharges go directly into the river and the third on Allard Drive in Manchester where discharges go into the city’s storm sewer system before entering the river.

CLF cited that the company exceeded benchmark values for aluminum, copper, iron, lead, zinc and total suspended solids. It pleaded the court to enjoin the company from further violations and pay civil penalties and attorney’s fees.