(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today sent a letter to the Vice President, Senate Majority Leader, and Speaker of the House asking them to take all available measures to prevent a federal rulemaking from crippling the U.S. manganese ferroalloys industry. Ohio has one of the two remaining U.S. producers of manganese ferroalloys, which are used in the production of steel.
Eramet Marietta Inc., located in Marietta, and Felman Production LLC, located in Letart, West Virginia are the country’s only two remaining producers of manganese ferroalloys. The companies face stiff competition from foreign producers.
On Jan. 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule on the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Ferroalloys Production. The rule imposes heavy compliance requirements on Eramet and Felman. Eramet predicts it will have to eliminate about 90 jobs due to the rulemaking.
In his letter, Attorney General DeWine writes: “Eramet will need to reduce its production and staff by half to comply with the overburdening rulemaking. We ask for your assistance to avoid these losses.”
He adds, “We should not accept the conclusion that protecting the public health on the one hand and ferroalloy jobs on the other are mutually exclusive.”
The letter explains that while Eramet is committed to reconstructing the largest unit of its operation for the sake of environmental compliance, it does not have the resources to update the remaining operational units and predicts the rulemaking would eliminate half of its production. The letter also explains that the impact of such a loss would extend beyond Eramet to major U.S. steel companies, including U.S. Steel, AK Steel, TimkenSteel, and ArcelorMittal.
“American steel is vital to our national security, and many of these companies have ties to Ohio and our local economy,” DeWine writes. “Without Eramet’s supply, these steel companies will encounter unpredictable costs and their own production risks. Simply put, the harms introduced by this rulemaking are severe and far-reaching.”
A copy of Attorney General DeWine’s letter is available on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.