BRUSSELS, Belgium -- "Thousands of corporate lobbyists roam the corridors of power in Brussels. Operating out of the spotlight, many of them do not hesitate to employ improper methods: pretending to be concerned environmentalists, scaremongering the EU into inaction, or securing privileged access to EU decision-makers.
These underhand tactics, combined with the strength of big business, have allowed corporate lobbyists to continue for-profit lobbying at the expense of more climate- and consumer-friendly regulation; putting profits before people and the planet.
If these damaging and dirty lobbying tactics worry you, then fear not, help is at hand, and you can be part of the solution. This year’s Worst EU Lobbying Awards is here, with a twofold focus – climate and finance. And, with the help of Lobby-Cleaner, and your vote, we can clean up the lobbying scene in Brussels, discourage controversial lobbying practices by publicly exposing the worst offenders, and discredit the big business lobby among EU decision-making circles," Worst EU Lobbying Awards.
WASHINGTON, DC -- "ArcelorMittal USA Inc. spent $450,000 on second-quarter government lobbying, focusing on a range of issues from defense to clean energy, according to a recent report.
The total compares to the $490,000 that the steel manufacturer spent on lobbying in the second quarter of 2009 and the $360,000 it spent in the first quarter... In addition to the Senate and the House of Representatives, the manufacturer lobbied the Defense Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Trade Representative and the Executive Office of the President, among other federal agencies," Associated Press.
BOSNIA -- "The Federal Inspectorate has fined ArcelorMittal 13 300 KM [around EUR 6000] for yet another pollution incident in the River Bosna in Bosnia-Herzegovina, just a day after the company reportedly denied that it was the cause of the most recent incident.
Laboratory analysis of samples taken during the pollution incident in the Zenica area has confirmed that the substances involved originated from ArcelorMittal Zenica's slag landfill.
Very high pH values, electrical conductivity of TDS (total dissolved solids) and suspended particles were registered, and the confirmed values of the tested quality parameters are characteristic for waste waters from a tailings basin with slag, according to the analysis.
The results of the published chemical analysis show that wastewater from the slag landfill caused the pollution incident on 15th and 16th August at Banlozi.
The Agency for the Sava River Basin recommends that the Inspectorate bans the discharge of such wastewater into waterways, or that pretreatment is carried out before its release. The Inspectorate is planning to meet with ArcelorMittal next week to discuss wastewater treatment.
Pippa Gallop, Research Co-ordinator, Central and Eastern Europe Bankwatch Network
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- "The County Social Development Fund established by the government of Liberia and ArcelorMittal Liberia is failing to address the needs of communities impacted by the operations of ArcelorMittal in Liberia. This is the key conclusion of a new report released by Sustainable Development Institute from Liberia, Friends of the Earth Europe and Global Action on ArcelorMittal, a coalition of civil society groups tracking ArcelorMittal operations worldwide," press release, Global Action on ArcelorMittal.
Arcelor Mittal operations in Zenica, Bosnia. (Adnan Dzonlic)
"On 21 October 2009 the European Investment Bank’s board of directors approved a loan to ArcelorMittal worth EUR 250 million for a research and development programme said to be all about bringing environmental added value to the company's European operations. Couldn't a company the size of ArcelorMittal be expected to either fund the project out of its own resources or be able to access commercial loans, leaving advantageous EIB funding to companies more in need?
Frustrated by their dealings with the EIB on these matters, Bankwatch, ClientEarth and Global Action on ArcelorMittal have this week lodged a formal complaint with the Secretary General of the EIB that questions the rigour and ultimate validity of the bank's pre-loan assessment. Read it here and consider the magnetic pull ArcelorMittal seems to have towards public money," CEE Bank Watch Network . Published March 11.
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- "The EU's General Court yesterday (2 March) ruled against steel company Arcelor's attempt to challenge the rules governing the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) and associated claim for damages. The Court ruled Arcelor's action as inadmissible on the grounds that only companies individually or directly concerned by EU acts can bring a legal challenge to them. It argued that Arcelor is "neither individually nor directly concerned by the directive," which applies generally to all operators that it covers, including those in pig iron or steel production," EurActiv. Published March 3.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- "Steel giant Arcelor Mittal's Vanderbijlpark plant has been shortlisted for an infamous international environmental award to be announced alongside the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos this week... The Indian steel giant Arcelor Mittal was nominated for a number of reasons, including that it was not only the largest, but also the filthiest steelworks in South Africa," Eleanor Momberg, Sunday Independent. Published January 24.
ZAGREB, Croatia -- "The Luxembourg steel giant ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel
company has been shortlisted along with five other candidates for
the Public Eye Global Award to be held in Davos, Switzerland, on the
27th January – the opening day of the World Economic Forum.
The company has been selected from over 40 nominees due to its heavily
polluting operation in Vanderbijlpark, which is their biggest and most
profitable operation in South Africa. The nomination recognises the
company’s toxic waste dumping; failure to clean up contamination in
neighbourhoods around its steelworks; lobbying against stricter air
pollution controls and withholding information from the public that will
allow society to better understand the impact of the plant on their
health and well-being.
The general public can cast votes at www.publiceye.ch until 26th January," press release, Global Action on ArcelorMittal.
Oct 19:
European Investment Bank: No loans for ArcelorMittal
ZAGREB, Croatia -- "We have recently discovered that the EIB is considering a loan for steel company
ArcelorMittal and that this will be discussed by the Board of Directors this Wednesday, 21st
October.
ArcelorMittal has an extremely poor environmental, social and transparency record in many
countries, including during projects financed by international financial institutions. As the
world’s largest steel company we also believe that ArcelorMittal could access financing from
other sources, and that there is no added value in providing a low-interest public loan to the
company. We therefore urge the EIB not to approve any loan to ArcelorMittal in the
foreseeable future," Pippa Gallop, CEE Bankwatch Network, Global Action on ArcelorMittal.
VANDERBIJLPARK, South Africa -- "Strike Matsepe used his life savings to buy a small plot of land near the country's biggest steel mill, hoping it would become a thriving farm in his old age. Now, weathered and sick, the 80 year old has had to abandon his dream -- the land and ground water are so polluted his cattle have died and crops failed.
On Friday, ArcelorMittal SA, the world's largest steel marker, dismissed allegations of severe environmental damage and unethical business practices at the mill. In 2002, the company took over the 67-year-old plant that residents and environmental groups say has polluted their live," Celean Jacobson, Associated Press.
LONDON, UK -- "Lakshmi Mittal is close to pulling out of a $20bn plan to build two large steel plants in India – the centrepiece of efforts by one of the world’s most prominent industrialists to expand in the country of his birth.
Delays in persuading farmers and others to sell the land he needs for the developments in the states of Jharkand and Orissa are 'unacceptable,' the chairman and main owner of the ArcelorMittal steel company told the FT. 'If we cannot make progress in these two sites we will have to abandon the idea of starting the projects there and look for other places in India for our expansion,' Mr Mittal said," Peter Marsh, Financial Times.
Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker.
LONDON, England -- "ArcelorMittal, which didn't exist a decade ago, now accounts for 10% of global steel production. That pedal-to-the-metal growth strategy worked until a year ago when the world's economy took a dive. The company, based in Luxembourg, posted three consecutive quarterly losses, the latest at $792 million, and some analysts expect it to post another loss in the current quarter. Still Mr. Mittal says it would have been far worse if the steelmaker didn't shut mills, slash production about 35% and lay off thousands of workers," Robert Guy Matthews, Wall Street Journal.
JOHANNASBERG, South Africa -- "Arcelormittal South Africa Ltd, a unit of the world's top steelmaker, said a worker at its Vanderbijlpark plant died on Monday from injuries sustained after an explosion on Saturday, but operations had since resumed. Arcelormittal did not say how much production was lost as a result of the accident, which forced the suspension of operations at the furnace until Monday. It said it had started an investigation into the cause of the blast. The company said the fatality was its first this year following two fatalities in 2007 and two in 2008," Shapi Shacinda, Reuters.
LUXEMBOURG -- "Steelmakers such as ArcelorMittal have become huge beneficiaries of the European Union's emissions trading scheme, making tens of millions of pounds out of free carbon permits, research shows. Just three plants in Belgium, Spain and Romania, all controlled by Lakshmi Mittal, Britain's richest man, are sitting on 15% of the surplus permits handed out by the EU, according to official figures obtained by the Sandbag environmental campaign group. 'The scale of the benefits enjoyed by the steel industry make it look like the ETS is being used as a hidden subsidy to the sector,' said Bryony Worthington, the founder of Sandbag. The price of carbon has plunged over the last 12 months, partly because the slowdown has reduced output and emissions, but also because the EU handed out too many free permits to industry," Terry Macalister, The Guardian.
LUXEMBOURG -- "Steel is a vital component of our buildings, transport systems, power stations, cars and household goods. Modern life simply could
not function without it. But steelmaking also has a social and environmental footprint, and requires natural resources. So how do
we produce the steel the world needs, in a way that minimises our social and environmental impacts, whilst contributing to global ArcelorMittal Steel.
July 21:
Global Action on ArcelorMittal group members visit ArcelorMittal communities
in Liberia
MONROVIA, LIBERIA -- Global Action on ArcelorMittal group members from
Belgium, Kazakhstan, and South Africa, along with its member group in
Liberia, visited three counties in Liberia last week where ArcelorMittal
mines for iron ore. The Global Action team included group members Silas
Siakor and Leslie Hannay (Sustainable Development Institute, Liberia), Paul
De Clerck and Darek Urbaniak (Friends of the Earth International and Friends
of the Earth Europe, Belgium), Samson Mokoena (Vaal Environmental Justice
Alliance, South Africa) and Dana Sadykova (Karaganda Eco-Museum,
Kazakhstan). In Bong, Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties, Global Action members
met with villagers, ArcelorMittal workers, civil society and NGO workers,
legislators from the counties and Members of Senate, government agencies,
local government officials, and individuals recruited to manage projects
funded by the County Social Development Fund. Global Action group members
also met with ArcelorMittal staff in Yekepa and Buchanan. ArcelorMittal
neighbors brought up a lack of public access to information and failure to
involve community groups as two of their chief complaints about the company.
A report summarizing the findings of the trip made by Global Action on
ArcelorMittal group members will be published in 2010," Dana Sadykova,
Karaganda Eco-Museum.
MUMBAI, India -- "The world’s largest steel maker, ArcelorMittal, has put on hold its proposed Rs 40,000-crore steel plant in Orissa’s Keonjhar district for at least two years, as the global demand for steel is stagnating.
An e-mail reply from the steel major said it was not expecting its projects in India to start before 2014.
'We have paused our growth projects at present for obvious reasons. The projects in India are greenfield ones that have considerable lead time, as they involve land acquisition, environmental concerns, etc. But we remain committed to our investment in India,” said the e-mailed reply," Nevin John and P.B. Jayakumar, Business Standard . Published July 15th.
VAAL, South Africa -- "A report entitled ‘ArcelorMittal: Going nowhere slowly’, which is a review of the global steel giant’s environmental and social impacts for 2008/9, states that the company continues to use corporate spin, evasion, and the bureaucracy of meetings in South Africa to delay the inevitable: peoples’ democratic right to information.
The report was produced by a group of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), in May 2009. This report is part of the Extractive Industries: Blessing or Curse? project implemented by Friends of the Earth Europe, Friends of the Earth France, Friends of the Earth Netherlands and CEE Bankwatch Network...ArcelorMittal states that it has an envi- ronmental master plan in which it has committed over R1-billion for the next four year to improve environmental standards.," Brindaveni Naidoo, Engineering News .
ALMA-ATA, Kazakhstan -- "Three people have been killed in a methane outburst in the Tentekskaya coalmine in Karaganda, the Emergency Situations Ministry of Kazakhstan reported.
According to the ministry, not long before midnight, local time (21:14, Moscow time on June 28) there was sudden methane and coal outburst in a heading face of the Tentekskaya mine that is owned by the ArcelorMittal Temirtau company. There were 94 people in the shaft during the emergency, 90 miners were evacuated to the surface. The fate of 4 people who were in the emergency zone remained unknown," Itar-Tass.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- "ArcelorMittal South Africa, a unit of the world's biggest steel maker, shut down its 1.2 million tonnes Saldanha mill on Tuesday, after an explosion at the plant, the company said.
Spokesman Sven Lunsche said no one was hurt when the explosion occurred at the mill's corex furnace, and an investigation into the cause of the accident was still ongoing.
'The mill will be down today and tomorrow when we will get a detailed assessment on the cause and how to proceed,' Lunsche told Reuters," Reuters.
TEMIRTAU -- "Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel producer, is under fire from the EBRD and campaign groups for repeated failures to improve transparency at its Temirtau steel and mining complex in Kazakhstan. The company is accused of doing too little to improve relations with a community that suffered 35 deaths last year in two mine explosions at the complex. Methane explosions have killed 99 miners all together in the past five years at the eight pits in the complex, which was bought by the Mittal group from the Kazakh government in 1995. The company is spending $230 million to replace outdated mining equipment. It was granted a $100 million loan from the EBRD for safety upgrades in 2007. The campaign groups' anger is focused on a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) that Arcelor Mittal presented last year, in response to earlier criticisms of its record on health and safety, and environmental impacts," Simon Pirani, Emerging Markets .
May 21: Mittal Steel still balking on health and safety worldwide; Liberia neighbors group joins network
LUXEMBOURG -- "Last week neighbors of ArcelorMittal Steel plants and mines worldwide met in Luxembourg and released a new report detailing the company's failure to fix environmental and health and safety problems. The neighbors network, Global Action on ArcelorMittal, includes groups from Bosnia, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Ukraine, the United States, and new this year, Liberia. Also part of the network is Central and Eastern European Bankwatch Network which includes organizations from 12 countries in the region. The neighbors gave the new report to shareholders attending the company's Annual Meeting and met with ArcelorMittal board member Gonzalo Urquijo," Liz Ilg, Cleveland Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
LUXEMBOURG -- "Steel workers attacked ArcelorMittal's Luxembourg
headquarters Tuesday during the company's annual shareholders meeting,
setting off smoke bombs and breaking through the front door to protest
temporary layoffs during the economic slump.
Some of the 1,000 workers from Belgium and France hurled cobblestones
and steel fencing at the building, smashing windows and tearing off a
steel molding from the ornate 1920s exterior.
Riot police lined up to protect the head office of the world's biggest
steel maker. One protester broke into the building and was immediately
captured by police," Aoife White, Associated Press.
Vanderbijlpark Steelworks, ArcelorMittal South Africa
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
-- "Rather than dealing with its dirty air, ArcelorMittal is playing with hot air, local and global environmental groups say.
The groups, which call themselves Global Action, say the global steel producer has gone on the "meeting offensive" in South Africa instead of releasing its environmental master plan on air pollution. Residents in the Vaal Triangle, where one of the company's operations is located, have accused it of polluting local air and groundwater, and causing respiratory illnesses," Wiseman Khuzwayo and Ingi Salgado, Business Report.
CHICAGO, IL
-- "Members of USW Locals 101, 1011 and 7367 held a rally in downtown Chicago Thursday afternoon at the Federal Plaza to demand that ArcelorMittal Steel either reopen their Hennepin, IL finishing plant or allow it to be sold to another company that will. Despite turning a profit of $48 million last year, the global steel giant has idled the Hennepin finishing mill, leaving 300 families downstate unemployed in a county with a 14.1 percent jobless rate. Governor Pat Quinn joined the rally as well, declaring that Illinois needs strong middle class jobs if the state is going to thrive in the economic recovery," Kevin Robinson, Chicagoist. Published May 1.
LONDON, England -- "Due to significant changes in the overall investment plans of some of
the ArcelorMittal operations in which the EBRD has invested, the Bank
has identified the need to review the status of the implementation of the
Environmental and Social Action Plans (ESAPs) at these plants. The
Bank has also received complaints from NGOs on various aspects of the
environmental performance of the ArcelorMittal operations. Bearing these
concerns in mind, the EBRD initiated dialogue at a senior corporate level
with the ArcelorMittal management board in 2008. Also, during February
and March 2009, EBRD bankers, environmental and social experts and
external consultants conducted an environmental, health, safety and
social monitoring review of each of the five ArcelorMittal operations in
which the Bank is involved," European Bank for Reconstruction and Development newsletter.
Breath Bosnia, breath Herzegovina: protest at World Cup qualifying soccer match
ZENICA, Bosnia Herzegovina -- "During the World Cup qualifying soccer match on April 2, neighbors in Zenica, Bosnia Herzegovina protested pollution from Mittal Steel and other polluters as part of their campaign 'Breath Bosnia, breath Herzegovina.' Their main goal was to present pollution problems to the bosnian and international public. Groups supporting this project include Eko Forum Zenica, the Bosnian Green Party, Enough (DOSTA), Civil Insurgency (Gradjanski Bunt), 80 members of 6 internet forums, the Zenica branch of Citizen Action Sarajevo, Drop (Kap), local communities Tetovo, Podbrežje, Donja Gra?anica, and Broda, and Bitno.ba, Protest.ba," Tarik Mujacic, neighbor of Mittal Steel in Bosnia Herzegovina.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- "Ron Kurth, who grew up in Gary, Ind., and worked in the steel mills, raised his family in the region near the outskirts of Chicago. He always wondered about the smoke and smog that overcast the Lake Michigan shoreline.
'It's just a horrible atmosphere,' he said.
Kurth, who has a 16-year-old daughter attending school in the Lake County city of Crown Point, decided someone ought to do something about the pollution. On Wednesday, he did.
He filed a lawsuit on behalf of his daughter against 11 northwest Indiana industries, including U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal, claiming the air pollution they emit from their smokestacks endangers the long-term health of Lake County children," Charles Wilson, Associated Press.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina -- "Bosnia's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal Zenica will suspend up to three quarters of its workforce in April, giving them slightly above half pay, union and company officials said on Tuesday.
The announcement prompted workers to threaten daily protests in a country many see as the least stable in the Balkans. Unions said up to 3,000 could be laid off," Daria Sito-Sucic, Reuters.
LONDON, UK -- "The world's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal SA said Tuesday that there was strong demand for the euro1.1 billion in bonds it put up for sale.
It said demand led it to increase the investment it is seeking from an initial euro750 million bond sale that it launched earlier Tuesday. It said it could still increase the offering to euro1.25 billion," Associated Press.
GARY, Indiana -- "ArcelorMittal has filed a draft permit application for a landfill at its Burns Harbor plant, which one environmental attorney says cuts the public out of the process.
The landfill, known as the Deerfield Storage Facility, would hold millions of tons of sludge containing oil, grease, lead and heavy metals that are stockpiled about 20 feet above grade on 30 acres within the footprint of the mill without an artificial layer to protect groundwater. Another 150,000 to 400,000 tons of sludge from ongoing operations would be added every year," Gitte Laasby, Gary Post-Tribune. Published March 21.
NEW DELHI, India -- "Oil and Natural Gas Corp and its partner Lakshmi N. Mittal will pay $80 million signing bonus for taking a 25 per cent stake in Kazakhstan's prospective Satpayev oil field in the Caspian Sea.
ONGC Mittal Energy, the joint venture of ONGC Videsh and Mittal Investment, on Saturday signed Heads of Agreement with Kazakhstan's national oil firm KazMunaiGas (KMG) for the stake, Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey said.
'OMEL will get 25 per cent stake in exploration phase and will have the option of increasing it by 10 per cent upon commercial discovery,' he said," The Hindu.
LONDON, UK -- "Thank you for your letter received on 28 December 2008 regarding the Bank's investments in ArcelorMittal... Please be assured that the Bank actively monitors its ArcelorMittal investments, including environmental and safety aspects of them and therefore are aware of the status of the project commitments. We share the concerns you expressed in the delays of implementing the Stakeholder Engagement Plan in ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which was designed to provide a great deal of information to the public, and the local community in particular," Olivier Descamps and Alistair Clark, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Jan 13:
Global Action writes European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: reevaluate your investments in ArcelorMittal
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "We are writing to request that during 2009 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development evaluation department undertakes a thorough evaluation of the bank's investments in ArcelorMittal and its predecessors since 2001, and that sufficient resources are allocated for the evaluation work. After more than ten years of the company receiving support from the the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation, communities and workers at many of ArcelorMittal's plants continue to suffer from high levels of pollution and unsafe working conditions," Sunita Dubey,
groundWork USA and Co-ordinator, Global Action on ArcelorMittal.
CHENNAI, India -- "Dayamani Barla was chosen for the Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crime 2008. The award itself is remarkable because it has been instituted by two women who took on one of the biggest corporations in the world, Union Carbide in 1984 after one of the worst industrial disasters killed thousands of people in Bhopal... There are many lessons one can learn from the struggles and lives of women like Dayamani. Currently, she is leading the fight against Arcelor-Mittal's plans to set up a giant steel plant in Jharkhand. Why should she oppose industry that will create jobs in her State? Because she believes that the price that the tribals pay when they are displaced from their lands cannot be compensated through a few jobs or money. 'Natural resources to us are not merely means of livelihood but our identity, dignity, autonomy and culture have been built on them for generations,' she is reported as saying,'" Kalpana Sharma, The Hindu.
PARIS, France -- "French competition watchdogs imposed a record fine of 575 million euros (785 million dollars) on Tuesday on global steel giant ArcelorMittal and 10 other steel firms found guilty of price-fixing.
Topping the list of offenders, three subsidiaries of ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, were ordered to pay 301.7 million euros followed by KDI, a subsidiary of the German group Kloeckner, fined 169.3 million euros.
It was the biggest fine imposed by the French competition council since its creation in 1986, following a half-billion-euro fine handed down to mobile telephone operators in 2005," Agence France-Presse.
WARSAW, Poland -- "Jerzy Podsiadlo, Arcelor Mittal Poland (AMP) deputy CEO responsible for integration and restructuring, is stepping down. He has restructured four biggest steel plants, consolidated them, found investor for them when they were at the verge of bankruptcy. According to 'PB' data confirmed at several places, there had been plans to fire Jerzy Podsiadlo over a month ago. 'After intervention from one of the members of the supervisory board, these plans were suspended. Jerzy Podsiadlo might have got an offer he couldn’t refuse to leave', 'PB' source says," Puls Biznesu.
KIEV, Ukraine -- "ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih complex is one of the main sources of air pollution in the city of Kriviy Rih. In 2006 it received a $200 million low-interest loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The EBRD provided this loan to ArcelorMittal for modernization and improving the energy efficiency of the plant.
However the Government of Ukraine and AMKR have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which the Government promises to grant a number of privileges to the plant and AMKR in its turn promises not to dismiss workers, to pay them their salary and keep up a certain level of production of steel," Global Action on ArcelorMittal . 27 Kb doc.
AK ORDA, Kazakhstan -- "ArcelorMittal Steel's Temirtau complex continues to be the main source of air pollution in Temirtau and one of the main polluters in the Karaganda region. Since 2004, 99 workers have been killed from methane explosions at ArcelorMittal's Kazakh coal mines. Earlier this year when an accident at ArcelorMittal Temirtau (AMT) owned Abaiskaya coal mine left 30 miners dead the Kazakh government threatened the company that it could lose its state license for subsurface resources use if does not meet the required safety standards at the coal mines. ArcelorMittal claims that pollution prevention and health and safety measures are a top priority for its operations in Kazakhstan, yet real improvements have yet to be seen and efforts must be significantly stepped up," Global Action on ArcelorMittal . 35 Kb doc.
Dec 4:
Neighbors of Mittal Steel in Bosnia Herzegovina protest pollution and lack of heat
ZENICA, Bosnia Herzegovina -- "Neighbors of the Mittal steel mill in Zenica, Bosnia Herzegovina protested this week against pollution from the steel mill and lack of heating. The heating system in Zenica depends on the power stations owned by Mittal Steel. Protestors say that Mittal and the Zenica district government are to blame that the heat is still not turned back on, despite their promise to have it on by December 1. The 150,000 people living and working in Zenica have gone without heat for one month. Schools in Zenica closed last week, and will continue to be closed this week," Tarik Mujacic, neighbor of Mittal Steel in Zenica.
WARSAW, Poland -- "Four steel mills of Arcelor Mittal Poland (AMP) will lay off over 1,000 employees in one of the most far reaching mass redundancy programs in Poland. The firm was initially announcing limiting production by 15 percent, but now it is mentioning a figure as high as 30 percent. According to Frank Schulz, president of Arcelor Mittal Europe, which incorporates AMP, the Polish plants will feel the crisis acutely due to low competitiveness of products and high prices of raw materials," Warsaw Business Journal.
LONDON, UK -- "ArcelorMittal feels able to talk about health and safety challenges, but environmental concerns are conspicuous by their absence from its first corporate responsibility report. In its first formal responsibility report, ArcelorMittal, the steel giant formed two years ago through the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel, provides a frank assessment of the current state of its corporate responsibility strategy, measurement and assurance," Ethical Corporation Magazine.
ZENICA, Bosnia Herzegovina -- "On Friday, twenty neighbors of Mittal Steel's mill in Zenica, Bosnia Herzegovina, met at Club 072 to discuss the pollution problems from the Zenica mill and to see the short documentary 'Mittal Steel: Clean Up for Real,' detailing the pollution problems from Mittal Steel in Cleveland, Ohio. The group met through the online campaign 'E-Doze', initiated by organizer Tarik Mujacic, and plans to continue to work together to get Mittal to clean up. Among those present at Club 072 were the current Minister of Health and his colleagues, medical professionals, journalists, and Hasan Kreho, ArcelorMittal worker and organizer of previous protests in Zenica on pollution from ArcelorMittal," Liz Ilg, Cleveland Area Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
September 29, 2008: Chicago's Toxic Air Chicago-area residents face some of the highest risk of getting sick from pollution, but the EPA isn't making it widely known
Haze looms over Mittal Steel in Indiana.
CHICAGO, IL -- "Some of the polluters are highly visible, including the sprawling Mittal Steel plant in Riverdale and the Corn Products refinery in Bedford Park. Others are metal plating shops and chemical makers tucked away in low, nondescript buildings on the edges of residential neighborhoods where people might not know of the potential risks. Minority neighborhoods have been hit hardest, from the mostly Latino enclave of Pilsen to mostly black communities on the city's South and West Sides. Of the Top 50 polluters in Cook County in 2005, 60 percent are where black or Latino residents outnumber whites.," Michael Hawthorne and Darnell Little, Chicago Tribune.
BUCHAREST, Romania -- "A huge metal pipe fell on two workers at a steel plant Thursday in eastern Romania, leaving them seriously injured, officials said. Arcelor Mittal Galati, which owns the plant, said the accident occurred when a 1-ton pipe fell 100 feet (30 meters), hitting the workers. It was the 14th accident at the plant this year. Hospital spokesman Mihai Bucatanschi said a 38-year-old worker is not expected to survive after he suffered serious head injuries and the other worker had a badly injured. An investigation is under way. Arcelor Mittal Galati is part of ArcelorMittal SA, the world's largest steelmaker. It bought the plant from Romania in 2001," PR-inside.com.
CHERTAL, BELGIUM -- "A worker has died at the Arcelor Mittal factory at Chertal, near Liege in Belgium. The body of the man was found beside a truck in the factory yard yesterday evening. The man's wife raised the alarm when he failed to return home after his shift. The police and fire brigade were called to the factory but could not save the man who was pronounced dead at the scene. The public prosecutor in Liege has ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the man's death, The Station Network.
One thousand citizens of Zenica protested in the center of the city on Saturday because of air pollution. Graduate engineer and employee of ArcelorMittal, Hasan Kreho organized the demonstration.
ZENICA, Bosnia Herzegovina -- "Mr. Dzonlic, who actually sent you pictures of pollution in Zenica, Bosnia Herzegovina, referred me to your website. I must tell you how nice it is to see people care about pollution in your city. We do not have any kind of group or organization like yours. Next Saturday, August 9, in Zenica will be the first protests against Mittal. The organizers will be from the Independent Union of Steelworkers from Mittal Steel Zenica. It seems there will be a lot of people who are prepared to stand up for their rights. I am a fan of your site because people can read news, every single day about Mittal. Thank you and regards!" Tarik Mujacic, from a letter to Liz Ilg, Cleveland Area Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
July photo of Mittal Steel from Donna Levandowski's backyard on Independence Road, Cleveland.
BURNS HARBOR, IN -- Mittal supervisor's legs severed in accident at Burns Harbor plant. "'[Arcelor Mittal and United Steelworkers union officials] did nothing wrong by not reporting the accident,' [Sean Keefer, Indiana Department of Labor Deputy Commissioner] said," Andy Grimm, Merrillville Post-Tribune.
ZENICA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA -- Adnan Dzonlic took this photo of Arcelor Mittal's Zenica Steelworks at 7:30 Tuesday night. He wrote, "You can see all situation. Mittal says that it will be better in 2014. ?" Dzolnic's remarkable photos of this plant are now collected on a new website, Mittal Zlo, [Mittal Evil]. Liz Ilg, Cleveland Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
SARAJEVO, BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA -- "Five workers have been injured in an explosion at a Bosnian steelworks majority owned by Arcelor-Mittal, a company official said Friday. 'The explosion occurred...at the blast furnace' of the plant in the central town of Zenica on Thursday night, the steelworks' spokeswoman, Slobodanka Lizdek, told Agence-France Presse. 'We still don't know what caused the accident,' she said, adding that an investigation had been launched into the cause of the explosion," Dow Jones.
ZENICA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA -- "I am a journalist for the most popular daily newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 'Daily Voice' or 'Dnevni Avaz,' which sells 60,000 to 100,000 copies per day. The newspaper is sold in Bosnia and neighboring countries, and I am a correspondent from Zenica. As a journalist I followed the arrival of Arcelor Mittal, which took over BH Steel. I am a personal witness of all bad things from Mittal to people in Zenica, where I have lived for more than 15 years. We have the same problems from Mittal in Zenica as you do in Cleveland, seems to me," Adnan Dzonlic, neighbor of Mittal Steel in Zenica, message to Liz Ilg, Cleveland Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action. Photo by Adnan Dzonlic.
CLEVELAND -- Arcelor Mittal Steel, stung by the June 6 Ohio Citizen Action documentary video, "Mittal Steel: Clean Up For Real," today released a video of its own. The new Mittal video is called, "Inside Transforming Tomorrow: Discover how ArcelorMittal lives within the local community of Cleveland." Since both are on line, everyone can watch the video by Ohio Citizen Action and the one by ArcelorMittal, and decide for themselves.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- "Vaal residents protested outside the offices of ArcelorMittal this afternoon, claiming that pollution generated by the steel giant was causing them to become ill. They handed a memorandum to board member Thami Dikiza at the company’s head office in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg. Thabiso Radebe, an office bearer of the South African Communist Party, said 'many residents are sick' as a result of extensive air and groundwater pollution. 'They suffer from chronic respiratory diseases.' Residents of shack settlements and smallholdings, who joined the protest, claim their neighbourhood is still being used as a dump-site by the steel giant," Victor Khupiso, Johannesburg Times.
LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG -- "With respect to your specific comments concerning some of the sites mention[ed] in the document dated 13 May named 'Global Action on ArcelorMittal,' we intend to revert to you with a consolidated global answer to the points you have raised. We would then welcome an opportunity to discuss our responses with you in the spirit of transparency, fairness and ongoing dialogue with our stakeholders. This will allow us to further elaborate upon our existing initiatives and programs to address the issues you have raised in further detail. For example, we believe that there are several instances where you may not have received all the relevant information to make a fully informed judgment about our operations.
We look forward to establishing a constructive dialogue with your respective groups of NGO's [non-governmental organizations] at international level but we share your views with respect to the need for an open dialogue at local level. We very much encourage our sites to participate in such dialogue with our stakeholders and local communities," letter from Gonzalo Urquijo, Michel Wurth, ArcelorMittal, to Blanche Weber, Sunita Dubey, Friends of the Earth Luxembourg, on behalf of Global Action on ArcelorMittal, of which Ohio Citizen Action is a member, 688 KB pdf.
Letter from Blanche Weber, Sunita Dubey, Friends of the Earth Luxembourg, on behalf of Global Action on ArcelorMittal to Michel Wurth, Board Member, ArcelorMittal, May 20, 2008, 56 KB doc.
JHARKHAND, India -- "Economic Times reported that ArcelorMittal's proposed 12 million tonnes steel project in Jharkhand seems to have run into trouble as a company team comprising of Mr Vijay Bhatnagar CEO for India, Mr Sanka Mishra CEO of Jharkhand & Orissa projects and Mr PS Prasad GM technical of ArcelorMittal has been made to retreat from the survey work after protests by a local group. According to Torpa Block Development Officer Mr RB Singh, around 500 people of Rania, Karra, Torpa, Kamdara and Basia blocks in Jharkhand's Khunti and Gumla districts, under the banner of Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Rakhya Manch, forced the 6 member ArcelorMittal team to retreat," SteelGuru.
KOLKATA, India -- "Residents to be affected by ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Patna tehsil today staged a dharna in front of the district collector’s office where a consultative workshop organised by the UK-based company on 'Roadmap of corporate social responsibilities activities' was being held. 'Mittal go back, we don’t want displacement,' shouted activists of Mittal Pratirodh Manch and All India Krishak Khet Mazdoor Sangh, who have been opposing the steel project. 'We will not allow the plant to come up on agricultural land. We are ready to face bullet,' said Muralidhar Sardar," The Telegraph.
BHUBANESWAR, India -- "After Aditya Birla Group, Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Tata Steel and POSCO-India, it is now the turn of global steel giant ArcelorMittal to face opposition from the villagers facing displacement by its proposed 12 million tonne capacity mega steel project in Orissa's Keonjhar district. It was for the second day on Monday that residents from as many as 17 villages from Patna area of the district staged a protest demonstration to oppose the steel venture," Kalinga Times.
BANGALORE, India -- Will Mittal Steel be a raw deal for Orissa?, "With Mittal Steel moving into India, it becomes even more important to look at the firm's poor environmental and social track record around the world in its rise to become the world's largest steel maker," Sunita Dubey, India Together. Published August 8, 2007.
Dana Sadykova, Karaganda Ecological Museum, Kazakhstan, speaks about pollution problems and worker deaths from Mittal Steel's mill and coal mines in her country. To her left is Samson Mokoena, Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance, South Africa.
CLEVELAND -- "Last week Phil Pavarinni, from the Tremont neighborhood next to ArcelorMittal Steel in Cleveland, and I traveled to Luxembourg to attend the May 13 annual shareholders meeting of ArcelorMittal. We met with neighbors of ArcelorMittal plants from around the world and formed a new group called 'Global Action on ArcelorMittal'. The group includes people from the Czech Republic, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, India, and the United States. Leading up to our meeting in Luxembourg we produced a joint report on ArcelorMittal's pollution record, which we handed out at a press conference and at ArcelorMittal's annual shareholders meeting. The group met with Michel Wurth, an ArcelorMittal board member, and later with Claude Turmes, Vice Chairman of the Group of Greens/European Free Alliance in the European Parliament. Global Action on ArcelorMittal plans to expand its membership to include neighbors from other nations, share information, and launch a website," Liz Ilg, Cleveland Area Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
200 protesters marched to protest Mittal Steel pollution in Vanderbijlpark on Tuesday.
CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA -- "A coalition of activists targeted ArcelorMittal at its annual general meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, to mark the start of a campaign that aims to mould the world's biggest steel maker into a more responsible global corporate citizen. The coalition's strategy appears to be one of embarrassing ArcelorMittal's senior international management to the extent that it will take a hand in improving local conditions across nine countries. Two South African representatives were among those present to highlight ArcelorMittal South Africa's poor environmental legacy at its Vanderbijlpark facility," Ingi Salgado, Business Report & Independent. Published May 14, 2008.
report coverLUXEMBOURG -- "A newly-formed coalition of environmental and community groups - Global Action on ArcelorMittal - today released a report showing how local residents and workers around the world pay the price of ArcelorMittal's success. The report was launched at a press conference in Luxembourg to coincide with the company's annual shareholder meeting. It contains nine case studies detailing ArcelorMittal's legacy of pollution, environmental damage, health impacts and poor worker safety. In the report the coalition demands that ArcelorMittal implements environmental and health action plans in consultation with residents adjacent to the plants and plant workers in a democratic manner; Governments should not give ArcelorMittal perverse tax breaks or allow it to dispossess people from their land; and Public financial institutions should not support polluting industry such as ArcelorMittal, which has extensive resources of its own," press release, BankWatch Network.
LUXEMBOURG -- At the ArcelorMittal shareholder meeting yesterday, Liz Ilg, Ohio Citizen Action's Cleveland Program Director, asked Lakshmi Mittal, "Why do neighbors of your facilities around the world have to breathe rotten eggs, and children can't play outside in their yards?" An ArcelorMittal official approached Ilg and Phil Pavarinni, a Mittal Steel neighbor from Cleveland, and started to say that we shouldn't be allowed to speak. At this point, Pavarinni stood up and said, "We're shareholders, and we were told that's we're not allowed to speak. I don't know if that's how most companies would want to run their business." After Lakshmi Mittal defended his company's pollution record, Ilg told him, "You should come to Cleveland. Come and breathe the air that we're breathing there."
AKRON -- "Liz Ilg, an activist at Ohio Citizen Action, said the steelmaker has refused to respond to concerns flagged by local people near the Cleveland plant it bought in 2005 - including letters from more than 526 doctors and nurses detailing health problems linked to air pollution. She says the plant manager last met with campaigners in 2005 but the company had since decided to 'cut that dialogue off and address it only with public relations and no longer with decision makers.' ... 'The EPA doesn't even expect the company to test in every part of the facility,' she said. 'They (ArcelorMittal) plug in their production numbers and voila, they're in compliance every year. So they look really good on paper but in reality they have no idea how much they are polluting,'" Aoife White, Akron Beacon Journal.
LONDON, England -- "ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, faces charges of leaving a trail of environmental destruction in its plants across the globe as environment campaigners plan to descend on Luxembourg next week to protest the company's lack of sensitivity towards pollution control. Protestors will present Arcelor's shareholders at its annual meeting with a 40-page dossier of evidence about the firm's lack of interest in controlling pollution at its manufacturing units across the globe, from Orissa in India to Vanderbijlpark in South Africa, a media report said today... Liz Ilg, from Citizen Action in Cleveland, Ohio, demanded that the company put more effort into cutting pollution at her local works," Daily News and Analysis.
LUXEMBOURG -- "Steel giant ArcelorMittal will be accused of leaving a trail of environmental destruction in its wake this week when campaigners descend on Luxembourg to protest at its annual meeting... Liz Ilg, from Citizen Action in Cleveland, Ohio, will demand the company put more effort into cutting pollution at her local works. She said: 'This is the most urban steel mill in the US: they've got more people living around them than any other plant - 390,000 within five miles.' Mittal took over the plant from International Steel Corporation in 2004. 'The main message is: start to look at pollution prevention at your facilities. The best way to do that is to sit down and talk to community members,' said Ilg. She has collected 34,000 signatures on a petition, but says the company has so far refused to meet local people,'" Heather Stewart, The Guardian Observer.
LONDON, UK -- "Thank you for your letter received on 28 December 2008 regarding the Bank's investments in ArcelorMittal... Please be assured that the Bank actively monitors its ArcelorMittal investments, including environmental and safety aspects of them and therefore are aware of the status of the project commitments. We share the concerns you expressed in the delays of implementing the Stakeholder Engagement Plan in ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which was designed to provide a great deal of information to the public, and the local community in particular," Olivier Descamps and Alistair Clark, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
WARSAW, Poland -- "Jerzy Podsiadlo, Arcelor Mittal Poland (AMP) deputy CEO responsible for integration and restructuring, is stepping down. He has restructured four biggest steel plants, consolidated them, found investor for them when they were at the verge of bankruptcy. According to 'PB' data confirmed at several places, there had been plans to fire Jerzy Podsiadlo over a month ago. 'After intervention from one of the members of the supervisory board, these plans were suspended. Jerzy Podsiadlo might have got an offer he couldn’t refuse to leave', 'PB' source says," Puls Biznesu.
WARSAW, Poland -- "Four steel mills of Arcelor Mittal Poland (AMP) will lay off over 1,000 employees in one of the most far reaching mass redundancy programs in Poland. The firm was initially announcing limiting production by 15 percent, but now it is mentioning a figure as high as 30 percent. According to Frank Schulz, president of Arcelor Mittal Europe, which incorporates AMP, the Polish plants will feel the crisis acutely due to low competitiveness of products and high prices of raw materials," Warsaw Business Journal.
LONDON, UK -- "ArcelorMittal feels able to talk about health and safety challenges, but environmental concerns are conspicuous by their absence from its first corporate responsibility report. In its first formal responsibility report, ArcelorMittal, the steel giant formed two years ago through the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel, provides a frank assessment of the current state of its corporate responsibility strategy, measurement and assurance," Ethical Corporation Magazine.
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- "Thousands of corporate lobbyists roam the corridors of power in Brussels. Operating out of the spotlight, many of them do not hesitate to employ improper methods: pretending to be concerned environmentalists, scaremongering the EU into inaction, or securing privileged access to EU decision-makers.
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- "The County Social Development Fund established by the government of Liberia and ArcelorMittal Liberia is failing to address the needs of communities impacted by the operations of ArcelorMittal in Liberia. This is the key conclusion of a 
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- "The EU's General Court yesterday (2 March) ruled against steel company Arcelor's attempt to challenge the rules governing the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) and associated claim for damages. The Court ruled Arcelor's action as inadmissible on the grounds that only companies individually or directly concerned by EU acts can bring a legal challenge to them. It argued that Arcelor is "neither individually nor directly concerned by the directive," which applies generally to all operators that it covers, including those in pig iron or steel production," EurActiv. Published March 3. 
ZAGREB, Croatia -- "The Luxembourg steel giant ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel
company has been shortlisted along with five other candidates for
the Public Eye Global Award to be held in Davos, Switzerland, on the
27th January – the opening day of the World Economic Forum.
The company has been selected from over 40 nominees due to its heavily
polluting operation in Vanderbijlpark, which is their biggest and most
profitable operation in South Africa. The nomination recognises the
company’s toxic waste dumping; failure to clean up contamination in
neighbourhoods around its steelworks; lobbying against stricter air
pollution controls and withholding information from the public that will
allow society to better understand the impact of the plant on their
health and well-being.
The general public can cast votes at 
ZAGREB, Croatia -- "We have recently discovered that the EIB is considering a loan for steel company
ArcelorMittal and that this will be discussed by the Board of Directors this Wednesday, 21st
October.
ArcelorMittal has an extremely poor environmental, social and transparency record in many
countries, including during projects financed by international financial institutions. As the
world’s largest steel company we also believe that ArcelorMittal could access financing from
other sources, and that there is no added value in providing a low-interest public loan to the
company. We therefore urge the EIB not to approve any loan to ArcelorMittal in the
foreseeable future," Pippa Gallop, CEE Bankwatch Network, Global Action on ArcelorMittal.
Oct 5:
KOLKATA, India -- "Residents to be affected by ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Patna tehsil today staged a dharna in front of the district collector’s office where a consultative workshop organised by the UK-based company on 'Roadmap of corporate social responsibilities activities' was being held. 'Mittal go back, we don’t want displacement,' shouted activists of Mittal Pratirodh Manch and All India Krishak Khet Mazdoor Sangh, who have been opposing the steel project. 'We will not allow the plant to come up on agricultural land. We are ready to face bullet,' said Muralidhar Sardar," The Telegraph.
BHUBANESWAR, India -- "After Aditya Birla Group, Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Tata Steel and POSCO-India, it is now the turn of global steel giant ArcelorMittal to face opposition from the villagers facing displacement by its proposed 12 million tonne capacity mega steel project in Orissa's Keonjhar district. It was for the second day on Monday that residents from as many as 17 villages from Patna area of the district staged a protest demonstration to oppose the steel venture," Kalinga Times.
