When Brazilian companies are called to task for industrial pollution, they typically lodge repeated appeals to stymie regulators. That’s what makes the case of Brazil’s National Steel Company (CSN), the country’s second-largest steel maker, unusual. CSN, whose mill in southeastern Rio de Janeiro state churns out 5.6 million metric tons of steel annually, has failed for years to make the investments needed to comply with state and federal environmental laws. But this month the Rio de Janeiro state Environmental Secretariat and the company reached a clean-up agreement which, while not a first, is seen as a significant step forward in Brazilian environmental regulation. The steel maker pledged to spend R$200 million (US$119 million) on 90 environmental upgrades over the next three... [Log in to read more]
