ST. PAUL — The state of Minnesota and U.S. Steel have reached a deal that permits the company to expand production at one Iron Range plant and clean up pollution at another.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials tell Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/rkOQna ) that the deal protects the environment without interfering with economic development on the Iron Range.
However, environmentalists and Indian tribes oppose the agreement because they don't believe the pollution-reducing technology called for in the deal will work.
The agreement specifies certain actions the company will take at its huge Minntac plant near Mountain Iron and at the smaller Keetac plant to the west. The Keetac plant will expand.
U.S. Steel says the deal demonstrates the company's commitment to environmental stewardship and will make its taconite plants leaders on pollution control.
