USX to Pay $54.9 Million in Pollution Case

USX Corp., the biggest U.S. steelmaker, has agreed to pay $30 million to clean up the Grand Calumet River in Indiana as part of a $54.9-million environmental settlement, the Justice Department said. Federal and state authorities had accused USX of illegally discharging waste water contaminated with PCBs, heavy metals, oil and grease, benzene and other polluting substances that kill fish and harm migratory birds, the department said. The company agreed to pay $30 million to clean up the river; $22 million for future pollution abatement at its Gary, Ind., plant, and a $2.9-million civil penalty as part of two consent agreements to settle the charges, the department said. The Pittsburgh-based company, formerly known as US Steel, agreed to remove and dispose of nearly 700,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from five miles of the river. It has five years to do the job, the Justice Department said.