Steel Mills

Court Upholds Dismissal of Suit Against Big River Steel

Written by Sandy Williams


The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Nucor Corp against Big River Steel.

The suit charged that the Big River Steel permit air permit was invalid and the continued construction of the mill violated the Clean Air Act.

The district court dismissed the lawsuit for “lack of subject matter jurisdiction” and ruled that the Nucor lawsuit “amounted to a collateral attack on a facially valid air permit.” The appeals court upheld that decision on Wednesday.

Nucor has been challenging the permit through a series of courts since the permit was issued in 2014. Big River Steel, located in Osceola, Arkansas is approximately 35 miles from Nucor’s production sites in Blytheville.

Big River Steel is close to completion and has begun commissioning operating units at the mill. The $1.3 billion steel mill will produce 1.6 million tons of niche and specialty steels when fully operational.

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