We wanted to give you a quick update on our cases against U. S. Steel. We're still waiting for the U.S. and the State of Indiana to file the final consent decree (settlement agreement) that they are negotiating with U. S. Steel. Some of you may remember the draft consent decree that was released last spring -- after it was released, the governments accepted comments from Surfrider and other members of the public about the deal. Now, the governments should be reading the comments and revising the consent decree to address public concerns. Once this updated consent decree is released, a judge will have to approve it before it becomes official. There may be public hearings and opportunities for members of the public to participate when the final consent decree is filed -- we'll keep you updated about those.
Since our last update, we've been allowed to intervene in the governments' case against U. S. Steel. This means that we'll have a formal opportunity to submit legal documents with our thoughts on the new consent decree to the judge. You may recall that we requested to reopen our case earlier this year, but the judge in our case continues to keep our case on hold while we await more progress in the governments' case.
At the moment, we are also still waiting for two decisions from the court. First, we've asked the court to combine our case against U. S. Steel with the governments' case. This would let us resolve many issues more efficiently, as common issues in both cases could then be decided together. Secondly, U. S. Steel has asked the court to dismiss the complaint (our list of grievances) we filed when we asked to intervene. We think they don't have a very strong argument, but we'll see what the judge thinks.
Thank you for continuing to follow our case and for your dedication to the health of Lake Michigan.
