Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state is showing greater environmental-enforcement clout, a change that the owners of a new US$7 billion steel mill in the state—Germany’s ThyssenKrupp and Brazil’s Vale—have now learned firsthand. The lesson began last August after emissions from the Cia. Siderúrgica do Atlântico (CSA) mill, built on the outskirts of the town of Santa Cruz in southeastern Rio de Janeiro state, polluted the town’s air with an accidental release of graphite powder. For that, ThyssenKrupp, which holds a majority stake in the mill, and Vale, which has a minority share, were collectively fined R$1.3 million (US$778,000). Then on account of a second such release in December, regulators this month slapped the CSA plant’s two owners with an... [Log in to read more]