Nucor sues to stop Big River plant

Nucor Steel, an owner of two steel mills near Blytheville, has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to stop the construction of the $1.3 billion Big River Steel plant near Osceola.

In April, the Arkansas Pollution Control & Ecology Commission approved the air permit for the Big River plant over arguments from Nucor that the permit didn't meet state and federal air-quality standards. The commission's decision affirmed a March ruling by Administrative Law Judge Charles Moulton.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued the final air permit for the Big River plant in September.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in the Jonesboro division of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, seeks to "prevent the commencement or continuation of construction" of the Big River plant, Nucor said. The lawsuit seeks to revoke Big River Steel's air permit issued by the state.

The plant is expected to employ about 525 workers and pay an average salary -- including potential bonuses -- of $75,000 a year. About 2,000 workers would be hired to build the plant.

Arkansas has approved the sale of $125 million in bonds to help finance the Big River Steel project. And the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System has approved an investment of up to $125 million.

Big River began dirt work at the site -- putting in road beds and railroad beds -- in July, John Correnti, Big River Steel's chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview. Correnti expects that the plant will begin producing steel some time between May and July of 2016.

In the 95-page lawsuit, Nucor repeats some previous claims that there were numerous areas where Big River Steel failed to follow proper permitting requirements.

The Big River plant will affect air quality in Mississippi County, including at the two Nucor mills, which are about 20 miles northeast of the proposed Big River Steel site, the lawsuit said.

Nucor also argues that Big River Steel does not have a federally enforceable permit to emit particulate matter as required by the Clean Air Act.

Nucor has made the same arguments four or five times, Correnti said.

"This is just before another court," Correnti said. "Every time they've been turned down, and justifiably so. Now they're filing a citizens' suit under the Clean Air Act. How can you be accused of polluting when we're two years away from making our first ton of steel?"

Nucor's problem is that it has 30-year-old plants in Arkansas "that it will have to upgrade to bring them into the 21st century environmentally," said Correnti, who is a former chief executive officer of Nucor.

"This is just a desperate attempt from a competitor trying to keep us out of business," Correnti said.

In the lawsuit, Nucor was "very detailed and very comprehensive on what we think the issues are that the federal court ought to look at," said David Taggart, a Shreveport, La., attorney representing Nucor.

"At some point the federal judge will have to make a decision and we hope he'll rule in our favor," Taggart said.

Nucor also is pursuing an appeal of the Pollution Control & Ecology Commission's decision with the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Business on 08/13/2014

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