LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The state Court of Appeals upheld the air permit issued to a $1.3 billion steel mill in northeast Arkansas Wednesday, rejecting a rival company's challenge to the project.
The court affirmed the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission's decision to issue the permit for Big River Steel's plant, which is under construction in Osceola. Nucor Steel, which operates a mill about 20 miles away, had challenged the legality of the permit for the project.
Nucor had challenged the permit on multiple fronts, arguing the commission didn't perform a proper review of an administrative law judge's decision approving the permit. It has also argued that Big River Steel misrepresented whether the plant equipment could meet the emissions standards in its permit.
"It appears to us that the commissioners had more than eight days in which to assess and understand the materials in the case — PCE had earlier received the (administrative hearing officer's) detailed decision and Nucor's request for oral argument, which was over 100 pages in length and meticulously explained Nucor's arguments for reversal of the permit," the court said in its decision.
An attorney for Nucor said Wednesday he had not yet read the ruling and didn't have an immediate comment. During a hearing before the court last month, an attorney for Big River Steel argued Nucor's challenge to the permit was more about competing with a rival than the law.
"Today's decision is yet another in a long line of rulings in support of Big River Steel," Mark Bula, the company's chief commercial officer, said in a statement. "Our focus remains on the ongoing construction of our state-of-the-art flex mill and the installation of our industry-leading equipment."
Construction began last year and is expected to be completed by early fall next year on the plant, the state's first "superproject" under a 2004 state constitutional amendment that allows Arkansas to borrow money to help lure major employers. The state has issued $125 million in bonds for the project, which is also receiving millions in other public funds.
Once finished, the plant is expected to employ more than 500 people with an average annual pay of $75,000.
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