MONROVIA After being found guilty of several violations of environmental laws and the pollution of a Nimba County water body, ArcelorMittal Liberia was fined US$110,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The fine was imposed after ArcelorMittal and the management of the EPA had held a technical meeting. During which, the company acknowledged its mistakes and committed to rectifying them and taking steps to prevent future ones.
The company was held responsible for failing to inform the EPA of a major project change that posed a serious threat to the environment or human health. This, according to the EPA violates Part III, Section 26 (a & b) of the Environmental Protection and Management Law (EPML). For such a violation, the penalty is US$10,000 or five years imprisonment.
According to the EPA ArcelorMittal also failed to comply with corrective actions dated 27 juin 2021 mandating the acquisition an environmental permit for its Wastewater Treatment Plant and Effluent Discharge. This violation can result in a fine of US$25,000 or 10 years imprisonment, or both.
The company was also found guilty of unlawful and deliberate discharges of raw water into wetland, which affects the ecological integrity and the ecology of the wetland. ArcelorMittal was penalized by the EPA with a fine of US$50,000.
The company was caught using an EPA permit-ineptly explosive magazine. This led to a fine of US$25,000.
The EPA reminded the company of the similarities between violations it is being fined for and violations discovered during Compliance Monitoring by the EPA on ArcelorMittal’s operations on 22 September 2018.
The Agency sent a letter dated 27th July 2021 highlighting violations that were again found in a Compliance Monitoring and Compliance audit of operations. Despite your efforts to rectify the situation, the EPA observed in its communication to ArcelorMittal that the overall size of your environmental footprint has increased over the same period.
The company is also required by law to complete remediation of the environment that was damaged as described in the report. The company must hire an independent, EPA-certified environmental consultant to complete the restoration. The EPA will approve the restoration plans and oversee the implementation.
