Management Report - Beursgorilla

ArcelorMittal Annual Report 2009Consolidated Financial Statements 75On August 8, 2006, the U.S. EPA Region Vissued ArcelorMittal USA’s Burns Harbor,Indiana facility a Notice of Violation (“NOV”)alleging that in early 1994 the facility (thenowned by Bethlehem Steel, from whom theassets were acquired out of bankruptcy)commenced a major modification of its #2Coke Battery without obtaining a Preventionof Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) permitand has continued to operate without theappropriate PSD permit. ArcelorMittal USAhas discussed the allegations with the EPA,but to date there have been no furtherformal proceedings. The U.S. EPA Region Valso has conducted a series of inspectionsand submitted information requests underthe U.S. Clean Air Act relating to the BurnsHarbor facility and several otherArcelorMittal facilities located in Indianaand Ohio. ArcelorMittal has held discussionswith the EPA and state environmentalagencies regarding their concerns. Duringsuch discussions, in addition to the mattersraised in the NOV, EPA alleged thatArcelorMittal’s Burns Harbor, Indiana Harborand Cleveland facilities were non-compliantwith certain requirements of the U.S. CleanAir Act. Some of EPA’s allegations relateto recent compliance performance andsome relate to acts by former facilityowners that occurred 15-25 years ago.Preliminary analysis by counsel indicatesthat the allegations related to the actsof former owners appear to be unsoundand that the current operations at theBurns Harbor, Indiana Harbor and Clevelandfacilities achieve high rates of compliancewith existing or, where applicable,anticipated permits and regulations underthe U.S. Clean Air Act. Further discussionswith EPA and affected state environmentalagencies are planned with regard to EPA’sexpressed concerns.EuropeProvisions total 348 and are mainlyrelated to investigation and remediationof environmental contamination at currentand former operating sites in France(119), Luxembourg (99) and Belgium (97).This remediation work relates to variouselements such as decontamination ofwater discharges, waste disposal, cleaningwater ponds and certain remediationactivities that involve the clean-up ofsoil and groundwater. These reserves arealso related to human health protectionmeasures such as fire prevention andadditional contamination preventionmeasures to comply with local healthand safety regulations.FranceIn France, there is an environmental provisionof 119, principally relating to the remediationof former coke plant sites and the cappingand monitoring of landfills or basins previouslyused for residues and secondary materials.The remediation of the coke plants concernsmainly the Thionville, Moyeuvre Grande,Homecourt and Hagondange sites and isrelated to treatment of soil and groundwater.Douchy’s basins will be covered and closedand major treatments will be carried out withrespect to the Charleville, Mézières andBiache basins. The Besseges site, an oldwiredrawing factory in south of France, alsorequires significant environmental remediationsuch as soil and groundwater treatment andremediation of waste equipment.ArcelorMittal Atlantique et Lorraine hasan environmental provision that principallyrelates to the remediation and theimprovement of storage of secondarymaterials and disposal of waste at differentponds and landfills and an action plan forremoving asbestos from the installations.Most of the provision relates to the stockingareas at the Dunkirk site that will needto be restored to comply with local law.The environmental provisions also includetreatment of slag dumps at Florange andDunkirk sites as well as removal and disposalof PCBs and asbestos-containing material atthe Dunkirk, Montataire and Mardyck sites.The Stainless France environmentalprovision relates to the demolition andclean-up of the Ardoise plant followingthe end of activity at this site. For theIsbergues site, the provision is relatedto environmental risks (PCB and asbestosremoval) and demolition and clean-up foradaptation of the activity. A provision atGueugnon plant is related to environmentalrisks such as soil remediation, PCB removaland asbestos removal.LuxembourgIn Luxembourg, there is an environmentalprovision of 99, which relates to thepost-closure monitoring and remediationof former landfill and mining sites.ArcelorMittal Belval and Differdangehas a provision to clean pond waterin Differdange in order to meet therequirements of the LuxembourgEnvironment Administration (Administrationde l’Environnement) regarding discharge inthe Chiers River and maintaining sufficientcold water reserves to permit theproduction of degassed steel in warmermonths. The cleaning started in 2006 andis expected to complete in 2011.In 2007, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg soldthe former Ehlerange slag deposit (93hectares) to the State of Luxembourg.ArcelorMittal Luxembourg is contractuallyobligated to clean the site and moveapproximately 530,000 cubic metersof material to other sites.ArcelorMittal Luxembourg also hasa provision to secure, stabilize and conductwaterproofing treatment on mining galleriesand entrances and various dumps inMonderçange, Dudelange, Differdangeand Dommeldange. Soil and groundwatertreatment needs to be performed inTerre-Rouge within the next two years,to eliminate the sludge and clean thesoil to accommodate the expansionof the city of Esch-sur-Alzette.BelgiumIn Belgium, there is an environmentalprovision of 97, of which the mostsignificant elements are legal obligationslinked to the dismantling of steelmakinginstallations and soil treatment. Soiltreatment is mainly related to cleaningof the groundwater underneath the CokingPlant at the AM Gent site and cleaningof the soil at the Cockerill Sambre site.The provisions also concern the removalof transformers and the disposal of wastethat cannot be recycled internally on theAM Gent site and the removal and disposalof PCBs and asbestos-containing material.South AfricaArcelorMittal South Africa hasenvironmental provisions of approximately151 to be used over 20 years, mainlyrelating to environmental remediationobligations that represent the present valueof the costs of remedial action to clean andsecure a site. These actions are primarilyattributable to historical or legacy wastedisposal activities. With subsequentchanges in national environmentallegislation, the unit has a legal obligationto remediate these facilities.Approximately 48 relates to thedecommissioned Pretoria Works site. Thissite is in a state of partial decommissioningand rehabilitation with one coke batteryand a rolling facility still in operation.ArcelorMittal South Africa is in the processof transforming this old plant into anindustrial hub for light industry, a processthat commenced in the late 1990s.Particular effort is directed to landfill sites.Remediation actions for these sites arelong-term in nature due to a complex legalprocess that needs to be followed. TheVanderbijlpark Works site, the main flatcarbon steel operation of the South Africaunit, has been in operation for more than66 years, and thus contains a numberof legacy facilities and areas requiringretirement and remediation. Approximately57 of the obligation is allocated to this site.