In August 2010, the continued vigilance and documentation of Claymont residents paid off when the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control issued an order to bring emissions from Evraz Claymont Steel under control by pollution control upgrades. Under the consent decree, the steel plate manufacturer will have three years to install new emissions control equipment and relocate portions of its slag-handling operation.

The latest data (September 2009-November 2010) from Claymont Community Coalition air monitoring shows a downward trend that corresponds with the recession when the Evraz Claymont Steel Mill reduced production significantly. Evraz officials declined to provide production details to the study team about the monitoring period of September 2009 to November 2010, new dust control measures could not be confirmed to be the reason for the reductions.  

According to Dr. Mark Chernaik, an independent expert retained by the study team:

"Levels of metals were significantly higher during the beginning of Phase I of the project (from July to November 2008) and then declined substantially, corresponding to a decline in activity at Claymont Steel associated with the beginning of the Great Recession starting at around the same time.  

Lower levels of pollutants during Phase II of the project are associated with either reduced activity at Claymont Steel and/or the installation and implementation of new dust control measures.  Because of the lack of operational data and production data from Evraz Claymont Steel, it is not possible to determine why the levels of metals and particulate matter have declined since the beginning of Phase I.  Therefore it will be important to continue monitoring for metals when rates of production at the facility possibly increase after implementation of dust control measure.”

Dr. Chernaik also noted that levels of metals are higher in Claymont compared to other major Delaware industrial areas:

"However, long-term average levels of lead and manganese in the dataset are substantially above levels of these metals in ambient air from comparable locations in Delaware.  In Wilmington, the Department of Natural Resources and Environemntal Control found the following average levels of metals in air samples collected over a 2+ year period:  lead: 0.0056 micrograms per cubic meter; manganese: 0.0035 micrograms per cubic meter.[i]  By comparison, levels of lead and manganese in the Claymont area were, respectively, 3.2 and 6.5 times levels of these metals measured by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control in Wilmington."

The new dust study, titled: Community Air Monitoring of Particulate Matter and Analysis of Metals and Health Effects near Evraz Claymont Steel, noted the need to keep monitoring in the wake of the announcement from Evraz that production levels will increase.  According to the Dust Study team:

"As we conclude this study, we have already planned for Phase III.  Phase III has begun with the left over funds of Phase II.  Because the dust is not gone, we will continue to monitor the dust.  We hope to see a reduction in the dust; though we realize that we don’t anticipate seeing a noticeable reduction until 2013 as ECS continues to comply with the Consent Decree.   When the money runs out, the Dust Study team will approach DNREC for additional funds to continue monitoring.  We believe that the state of Delaware is getting a great deal for the money that they are spending."

Phase III monitoring has begun and documented an increase in metal pollution from Evraz, but it is too early to draw conclusions until more data is available later in 2011.  

[i] Philip K. Hopke and Eugene Kim (January 20, 2005) Analysis of Speciation Trends Network Data Measured at the State of Delaware.