WEST CHESTER, Ohio,
Aug. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AK
Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that it has reached an agreement to
settle an action brought on behalf of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and Commonwealth of Kentucky under the Clean Air Act and other
statutes and regulations with respect to AK Steel's former
Ashland, Kentucky coke
plant. The agreement was reached without admission of the
alleged violations by AK Steel.
In connection with the settlement, AK Steel has agreed to
undertake two supplemental environmental projects at its Ashland
Works steel plant to help reduce air emissions from that
plant. The estimated cost of the supplemental environmental
projects is approximately $2
million. In addition, AK Steel will pay civil
penalties of $1,625,000 to
the United States and $25,000 to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
AK Steel said that it appreciates the cooperation of the
Commonwealth of Kentucky during
the settlement negotiation process that enabled a portion of AK
Steel's assessed penalty to be applied to environmental improvement
projects at the Ashland Works.
AK Steel permanently closed its Ashland coke plant in 2011 because it was no
longer cost competitive due to increased maintenance and
increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Corporate-wide,
from 2003 through the end of 2012, AK Steel spent approximately
$85 million on environmental-related
capital projects and more than $1.1
billion to operate and maintain its environmental
controls.
AK Steel
AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon,
stainless and electrical steels, primarily for automotive,
infrastructure and manufacturing, construction and electrical power
generation and distribution markets. The company employs
about 6,100 men and women in Middletown, Mansfield, Coshocton and Zanesville, Ohio; Butler, Pennsylvania; Ashland, Kentucky; Rockport, Indiana; and its corporate
headquarters in West Chester,
Ohio. Additional information about AK Steel is available on
the company's web site at www.aksteel.com.
AK Tube LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AK Steel, employs
about 300 men and women in plants in Walbridge, Ohio and Columbus, Indiana.
AK Tube produces carbon and stainless electric resistance welded
(ERW) tubular steel products for truck, automotive and other
markets. Additional information about AK Tube LLC is
available on its web site at www.aktube.com.
AK Coal Resources, Inc., another wholly-owned subsidiary of AK
Steel, controls and is developing metallurgical coal reserves in
Somerset County,
Pennsylvania. AK Steel also owns 49.9% of Magnetation LLC, a
joint venture headquartered in Grand
Rapids, Minnesota, which produces iron ore concentrate from
previously mined ore reserves.
SOURCE AK Steel