Gary and Northwest Indiana residents face a critical month for the region’s environmental safeguards, as multiple federal and state agencies weigh new rules that could shape local air quality and public health. Upcoming public hearings are scheduled to gather resident feedback, covering topics ranging from equipment at the Gary Works steel mill to particulate matter […]
Gary Works
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
Gary Residents Raise Alarm Over Steel Mill Pollution
Nearly 50 people gathered Tuesday evening at the Gary Public Library to share a long-standing concern: The air they breathe has contributed to serious health problems. The gathering, organized by the city’s Air Pollution Committee, took place just blocks away from Gary Works’ towering smokestacks, which have loomed over the city’s skyline for generations. Much […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy
EPA Rollbacks Leave Gary at Risk From Air Pollution and Steel Emissions
In late July, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin appeared at an auto dealership in Indianapolis, just three hours away from the smoke stacks of the nation’s largest integrated steel mill, to unveil “one of the largest deregulation efforts in U.S. history.” It’s just one of the latest slashes to environmental safeguards affecting industrial communities […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics & Policy
$15B Nippon Steel Deal Is Completed, Bringing Hope and Uncertainty to Gary
After more than a year of off-again, on-again negotiation talks, Nippon Steel’s $15 billion acquisition of American staple U.S. Steel has officially been completed, according to releases from both companies. The details for Gary could be transformative. Nippon’s leadership has already earmarked at least $1 billion for Gary Works, including a rebuild of the aging […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Lead, Iron, and Manganese Found in Gary’s Air and Soil
This series was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. For decades, Gary has worn the title “Steel City” with pride. Today, researchers are finding that a by-product of that legacy is airborne particles laced with heavy metal contaminants that drift into homes and settle in lungs. Now, a new study offers […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy
President Biden Blocks U.S. Steel Sale, Raising Questions for Gary’s Future
President Joe Biden on Friday announced his decision to block the $14 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns. The move could have serious implications in Gary, where U.S. Steel’s Gary Works plant remains a key employer and economic anchor and where local leaders had strongly supported the deal […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
How Gary Residents Made Strides Toward a Cleaner, Greener City in 2024
From a citywide clean-up campaign to resisting the arrival of behemoth polluting facilities, the fight to make Gary greener and more sustainable never stops. Gary, one of Indiana’s most polluted areas, is burdened by toxic air pollution, flagrant zoning and land use violations, and decades of economic disinvestment, which only heighten the stakes of the […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Health, Maternal Health
Toxic Air, Limited Care: The Risks of Pregnancy in Gary
This series was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. Kimmie Gordon sat in her car, watching the sky darken as she waited for her 15-year-old son, Kaleb, to finish football practice. It is one of five sports her teenager plays despite living with chronic asthma. Over an hour stretched on, but […]
Posted inMoney, Politics & Policy
U.S. Steel’s Sale Is at Risk. Here’s What’s at Stake for the City It Founded a Century Ago.
With reports that President Joe Biden is preparing to block U.S. Steel’s sale to a Japanese company, a high-stakes battle with significant political and labor implications is unfolding. But as the political theater plays out on a national stage, the stakes are more tangible in Gary, a city originally founded as a company town where […]
Posted inCommunity, Environmental Justice
Residents Fight Gary Works Air Permit: ‘If the Steel Mill Won’t Quit, They Should Get No Permit’
Across the street from the smoke plumes of Gary Works’ steel mill, community members gathered at 21st Century Charter School to fight for their right to clean air. “Our air quality is a joke,” said Gary resident and gardener Libre Booker, who was moved to tears while speaking. “Our air quality is actually a joke. […]