Louisiana DEQ Issues Rushed, Controversial Air Permit to Proposed Hyundai Steel Facility

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Donaldsonville, Louisiana — Yesterday, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) posted the final, approved air permit for Hyundai’s proposed steel plant. Hyundai promised a state-of-the-art, clean facility, but the proposed plan falls short of those promises and would still bring thousands of tons of pollution to Cancer Alley, a region already overburdened with dirty air and water.

Throughout 2026, Sierra Club, working with experts and local groups, submitted a series of comments to LDEQ in an effort to bring to light the errors, miscalculations, and omissions in the permit application. Hyundai Steel made some changes to its permit application as a result of those comments, updating plans to electrify some components of the facility, which will lower levels of pollution.

Still, the final air permit issued by LDEQ yesterday fails to require Hyundai to significantly reduce pollution by electrifying additional components or blending in green hydrogen, nor does it require best-available technology for controlling toxic dust. Astoundingly, LDEQ found that this massive new greenfield facility would have “no adverse impacts” and therefore failed to include an environmental justice analysis, even though Ascension Parish already experiences toxic pollution at levels exceeding 96% of the rest of the country. (Hyundai Steel initially included, but then completely removed, the environmental justice analysis from the permit application.) LDEQ also did not do any independent analysis of alternative sites to determine if there is a location that would be less harmful to surrounding communities.

In response, Sierra Club Industrial Transformation Campaign Director Matthew Miles Goodrich issued the following statement: 

“Hyundai Steel says it wants to be a ‘catalyst for the future steel industry and hydrogen ecosystem,’ but its air permit tells a different story. The company made some improvements to its facility in response to public pressure, but it needs to do more to reduce dangerous pollution through electrification and make a firm commitment to green hydrogen. The South Korean government is mobilizing three-quarters of a trillion dollars to develop and incentivize clean industry, like green steel made with hydrogen, in its own country. That begs the question: why isn’t Hyundai—which is so well-positioned to produce and use steel—bringing the cleanest technologies to one of the most polluted communities in America? We will continue to evaluate the final permit and are exploring our legal options and next steps.”