Rio de Janeiro state is showing environmental-enforcement muscle by continuing to fine the German and Brazilian owners of a new US$7 billion steel mill over air pollution, and by requiring the installation of equipment to correct the problem. On Nov. 1, INEA, the enforcement arm of the Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Secretariat (SEA), fined the Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico (CSA) steel mill R$10.5 million (US$5.16 million) for the accidental release on Oct. 29 of graphite powder. It was the third such violation at the plant, which is co-owned by Germany’s ThyssenKrupp, one of the world’s leading steelmakers, and Brazil’s Vale, the world’s second-largest mining company and biggest iron-ore producer. Within six months of CSA’s June 2010 start... [Log in to read more]