Tom Miller (D)
DES MOINES, Iowa. (Legal Newsline) - Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has ordered a Keokuk-based steel plant to pay $220,000 in fines for violating air pollution laws.
The lawsuit alleges Matrix Metals LLC violated air pollution laws by unloading excess emissions of particulate matter at the facility (fine dust), failure to properly conduct "stack testing," failure to comply with the facility's operating permit, and failure to comply with planning and record-keeping requirements for an iron and steel foundry.
Lee County District Court Judge William Dowell entered a Consent Decree on Wednesday. The Decree also prohibits any future violations by the company.
Matrix agreed to the decree and has since implemented initiatives to address the violations by installing a new environmental management team and agreeing to make improvements to its current environmental standards and management process, according to Miller.
"We believe Matrix Metals now is fully in compliance," Miller said. "There are no outstanding enforcement issues."
In 2004, the company paid a $15,000 penalty for violating state emission limit laws.
Matrix is a producer of steel castings and operates more than 20 air emission points.