A new challenge to Big River Steel's $1.1 billion Arkansas steel mill could delay the project's development, although state officials told local news outlets that they are confident construction of the mill will proceed.? The project's air quality permit has been challenged by Nucor, which alleges that the application "contains incorrect and inadequate data, lack of proper regulatory review, and concerns that air quality standards will be compromised," according to news reports.
Nucor has two facilities in Mississippi County near Big River Steel's planned location, and the company has opposed the proposed mill since the project was announced.
In the 600-page-plus objection, Nucor stated that "as of June 24, 2013, modeling for the facility did not pass regulatory requirements.? ADEQ did not have, and could not have had, sufficient time to adequately analyze the application and issue the Draft Permit. Release of the public notice was premature, and should have waited until the technical review was complete. Consequently, the Draft Permit should be withdrawn in order to give ADEQ sufficient time to analyze the information."
Other key sections of the appeal include: ADEQ's judgment on the BRS [Big River Steel] permit is subject to bias due to the direct financial investment of an agency of the State of Arkansas, the Arkansas Teachers Retirement System, in the BRS project; and BRS has not finalized the design and placement of all emission sources; the history of heavy manufacturing is that additional support facilities and customer/supplier facilities likely will be built in proximity to BRS.
The Big River Steel mill is scheduled to come online in late 2015, creating 525 direct jobs in the steel industry plus hundreds more through the supplier chain, in addition to nearly 2,000 construction jobs during the 18-20 month construction process.
