The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ordered DTE Energy Company and three of its subsidiaries to comply with the Clean Air Act and pay a penalty of $100 million in a decision issued today concerning a coke battery in River Rouge, Michigan.
The EES Coke facility (Facility) is located on Zug Island, between River Rouge and Detroit, in an area that fails to meet federal standards for sulfur dioxide in the air. The Facility uses coal and other raw materials to produce metallurgical coke, an input for making steel. The court found that the Facility increased its sulfur dioxide pollution as a result of changes the company sought to its state air permit in 2014. For example, the Facility emitted over 3,200 tons of sulfur dioxide pollution in 2018, compared to permitted baseline sulfur dioxide levels of under 2,100 tons per year.
In an August 2025 order, the court found that the Facility violated the Clean Air Act. The court then held a two-week trial in September to determine which DTE Energy Company entities were liable and the appropriate relief for the violations.
“This decision demonstrates that the Department of Justice will seek relief against companies that fail to comply with the nation’s environmental laws,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “This ensures a level playing field for all businesses and advances the Administration’s initiative to Make America Healthy Again.”
In today’s decision, the court found that emissions from the Facility caused asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, increased blood pressure, and increased risk of cancer, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, and early deaths.
The court found that DTE Energy Company, DTE Energy Resources LLC, and DTE Energy Services Inc. were all liable as operators of the EES Coke facility. The court found each entity “exhibit[ed] a high degree of control over the Facility, including over environmental decision-making and operations.” In addition, the court had previously found that EES Coke Battery LLC was liable as an owner and operator of the Facility.
Turning to civil penalty, the court found that a penalty of $100 million was appropriate for the primary claim. The court found that the evidence showed that defendants saved about $70 million by failing to comply with the Clean Air Act as required, and were thus able to use that money in other ways. The court also found that the DTE Defendants each had a “substantial” ability to pay for relief ordered by the court.
Next the court ordered defendants to seek New Source Review permits from the Michigan Department of the Environment and Great Lakes (EGLE) within 250 days. The required permit applications will include proposals for stringent pollution controls consistent with the lowest achievable emissions rate and best available control technology, as determined by EGLE. The Court noted that the desulfurization technology described at trial for potential use at the Facility was “mature and well-established in the coking industry.”
The Environmental Protection Agency investigated the case.
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