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Gary council urges residents to attend IDEM meeting on US Steel permit modification
Summary
Council announced an IDEM public meeting Sept. 3 about a permit modification requested by US Steel Gary Works and several residents urged turnout, citing long-term health concerns and perceived weakening of federal protections.
The Gary Common Council used its Sept. 2 meeting to publicize a state-run hearing on a permit modification sought by U.S. Steel’s Gary Works and to amplify resident calls for public turnout.
Council President told the chamber that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 6:00 p.m. at 21st Century Charter School, 556 Washington Street, to discuss a “significant permit modification” submitted by U.S. Steel Gary Works. The announcement urged residents to attend, ask questions and file comments with regulators.
At public comment, Doreen Carey, a First District resident, said neighbors must show up and press the state and company for changes. “If we want to build and be as beautiful as we can be and as clean as we can be, the mill, our neighbor, has to be a good neighbor and has to contribute to that,” Carey said, urging attendance at the Sept. 3 meeting.
Council members framed the meeting as an opportunity for community members to register concerns about long-term air pollution and health outcomes they associate with steelmaking emissions. Councilman Washington said that while direct causal links to specific illnesses may be difficult to prove in a single meeting, “all of us in here know someone who worked in that mill” and urged residents to demonstrate the seriousness of the community’s concerns.
The council provided the time and location in open session and asked the public to push questions to IDEM and the company at the hearing. No regulatory decision was made at the council meeting; the IDEM hearing is the forum where the agency will receive comments and ask questions of stakeholders.
