A company serving the Severstal steel mill has applied for a state permit to bring in new equipment for processing the coke, iron ore and other raw material being shipped to and from Sparrows Point.
Stevedore firm Kinder Morgan proposes to install a new screening plant for sizing coke, ore fines (small particles larger than powder-size), mill scale, and ore cleanup on the peninsula. The equipment, which could handle 200 tons an hour, would join four other units already there, according to the company's application to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
The plant would produce nearly 4 tons a year of particle pollution, according to the company's application, but emissions would be at least partially controlled by spraying water on the material being processed. The equipment's diesel engines also will give off some pollutants, but company spokesman Joe Hollier said in an e-mail that even with the new equipment, the operation will remain under current air emission limits regulators have set.
A public meeting on the application will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the North Point-Edgemere Volunteer Fire Hall at 7500 North Point Road.