EPA Office Cites Ill. Scrap Yard

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has issued an administrative consent order to Cleveland Corp. requiring the company to comply by April 24 with EPA regulations related to its voluntary conversion of a furnace that burns clean scrap to a sweat furnace that can burn contaminated scrap at its salvage yard in Zion, Ill.

Compliance with the order will resolve EPA allegations that Cleveland failed to meet certification requirements for its furnace. After Cleveland converts from a clean-scrap furnace to a sweat furnace, the company will have to meet additional regulatory requirements to limit hazardous emissions.

Cleveland Corp. engages in aluminum recovery at the facility and has used its clean-scrap furnace to extract aluminum from aluminum scrap. When Cleveland begins to use its sweat furnace to extract aluminum from contaminated scrap, the company will use an afterburner to control emissions of hazardous dioxins and furans.