"When faced with testimony that Zug Island’s EES Coke Battery is one of Michigan’s worst sulfur dioxide polluters, an attorney for the facility said Monday: “So what?” The DTE Energy-owned facility was “permitted to do so,” said Michael Hindelang, attorney for the utility and its subsidiaries that are defendants in the EPA’s Clean Air Act lawsuit over the emissions.
Hindelang and a U.S. attorney representing the EPA made their closing arguments Monday in a federal bench trial. U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain said each party has until Oct. 9 to submit its findings of fact in the case.
The EPA requested that EES Coke Battery pay a $140 million civil penalty and begin operating with full desulfurization technology within three years.
Hindelang said a $5 million penalty should be assessed against EES Coke Battery, and the facility should continue reasonable environmental reporting requirements until otherwise directed by the state."
Isabelle Tavares reports for Planet Detroit September 30, 2025.
Advertisement 
