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The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has posted notice of a permit application submitted by the Aluminum Dynamics business unit of Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Fort Wayne, Indiana, to build a recycled-content aluminum melt shop in that state.
According to the ADEQ notice, Aluminum Dynamics is requesting the permit for a parcel of land in Benson, Arizona, which is in Cochise County in the southeastern corner of the state.
The proposed facility would process aluminum scrap into recycled aluminum ingots to supply its mill located in Columbus, Mississippi, which is currently under construction, according to ADEQ.
The proposed plant’s output would join other supply arrangements announced by SDI, including an Owl’s Head Alloys facility in Mississippi and a slab mill in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Supply from the latter facility, currently being commissioned, could face a tariff amount ranging anywhere from the 50 percent Section 232 tariff already imposed on inbound aluminum plus an additional reciprocal rate applied to Mexican imports, depending on tariff negotiations and the outcome of lawsuits seeking remedies.
Aluminum Dynamics reportedly indicated to some of its suppliers in 2023 that it intended to arrange for recycled-content slab and ingots to be produced in Mississippi, Mexico and a third site identified at that time as being in Gila Bend, Arizona.
On Monday, ADEQ held a public comment about the proposed Benson plant, which, according to a regional media report, brought out “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) opponents.
A report from KOLD-TV in Tucson, Arizona, indicates civic officials in Benson have endorsed the predicted 90 jobs the 200-acre facility would create.
However, opponents say the permit applications indicate the plant might need 5,000 gallons of water per minute and emit more than 10 tons of hazardous air pollutants each year, according to the report.
The report quotes an Arizona resident who identifies himself as a teacher saying his students are “going to be breathing in the particles.”
An ADEQ representative at the same meeting claimed emissions testing would be performed regularly, including the installation of an “ambient monitoring network throughout the community to ensure that we understand what the potential contamination levels are.”