We Energies sues to force firm to pay ‘fair share’ of Solvay clean-up

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We Energies is suing to compel an energy company to contribute to the clean-up of Milwaukee’s Solvay Coke site — where the mining-equipment manufacturer Komatsu is building its North American headquarters.

The utility last week sued American Natural Resources, a subsidiary of the Canadian natural gas company TC Energy, which once had operations that contributed to extensive contamination at the waterfront Solvay site. With supervision from the federal government, We Energies is moving forward with a $15.9 million clean-up of the property, a project that would clear the way for the construction of Komatsu’s headquarters.

We Energies’ suit argues that a coke and gas manufacturing plant had been on the Solvay site for decades, making American Natural Resources liable for environmental damage left behind when the plant was closed in the 1980s.

The utility, which acquired the property in 2017, reached a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that year to oversee the site’s clean-up.

“To date, Wisconsin Gas has been required to expend millions of dollars on response costs relating to the cleanup of the Solvay Site and anticipates spending millions more during the pendency of this litigation,” according to the suit.

TC Energy, the parent company of American Natural Resources, didn’t respond to a message, either, and hasn’t yet registered an attorney in the case, or responded to the suit.

Federal officials previously deemed We Energies and American Natural Resources — along with the Ohio-based Cliffs Mining, Maxus Energy Corp and East Greenfield Investors — as parties potentially responsible for alleviating environmental contamination at the site.

We Energies, however, entered into a agreement in 2017 with the EPA to remediate the property after acquiring the site after its previous owner had gone bankrupt.

The utility’s plan to clean up the property drew criticism from another party responsible for the state of the Solvay site. Cliffs Mining in spring 2018 sued We Energies, arguing the deal it had struck with the EPA was too costly, and favored the utility’s plans to quickly develop the property. Cliffs mining voluntarily dropped its lawsuit last May.

We Energies has been continuing to oversee remediation work on the property. In June, for example, crews began shipping waste from the Solvay property off-site with the expectation that they’d be able to fill in about 40,000 cubic yards of material by mid-July.

Brendan Conway, a We Energies spokesman, said about two years of minor remediation work remain on the property.

The utility’s suit against American Natural Resources is an attempt to force the company to pay for its share of the clean-up costs, Conway said. After unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate with American Natural Resources, We Energies sued.

“We are engaging with ANR through this complaint to recover ANR’s fair share of the expenses to clean up the Solvay site,” Conway said. “Despite numerous attempts by us to reach an agreement, ANR has been unwilling to engage in discussions about a potential resolution.”

Komatsu, meanwhile, has begun site work on its new headquarters at the Solvay site. The company last week completed its purchase of the property, paying $1.75 million for a 12-acre parcel owned by the city of Milwaukee, and $7 million for a 41-acre section of the property owned by We Energies, according to state records.

Komatsu is planning to put up a three-story office building and manufacturing plant to serve as its North American headquarters. The company could employ 600 workers at the property by 2023, and plans to move its operations from Miller Park Way to the waterfront site after construction wraps up in 2022.

Hunzinger Construction is the main contractor on the $285 million project, which Eppstein Uhen Architects and Graef designed.