The nation's largest producer of foundry coke has been operating in Jefferson County under an air permit that expired more than two years ago, and an environmental nonprofit says local health officials have let the company's renewal application languish without action. The Southern Environmental Law Center filed a petition Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court asking a judge to force the Jefferson County Department of Health to act on ABC Coke's long-pending permit application, arguing the delay has left nearby residents exposed to ongoing pollution risks.
The petition was filed on behalf of the Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution, known as GASP, and accuses Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. David Hicks of failing his “statutory, nondiscretionary duty to take action” on the renewal, according to Inside Climate News, whose reporting was also carried by WBHM. ABC Coke, owned by Drummond, is described by the Southern Environmental Law Center as the largest producer of foundry coke in the United States and Mexico, manufacturing the dirty, high-carbon fuel by burning coal at extreme temperatures at its facility in Tarrant.
A Permit Application Stuck Since 2023
ABC Coke submitted its Title V major-source operating permit application to the health department in October 2023, per the SELC press release. The facility's five-year operating permit expired in April 2024, though Birmingham Watch has reported that ABC Coke continued operating legally because it applied for renewal six months before the expiration date — a characterization that conflicts with Inside Climate News' framing of the facility as operating without an up-to-date permit. Either way, the health department did not issue a draft permit for public review and comment until January 2026, more than two years after the application was filed, according to the SELC.
Petitioners say that since the draft was released, the agency has not responded to public comments, forwarded the permit to the EPA for review, or issued a final decision. The petition argues this delay deprived the public of procedural and substantive rights guaranteed under the Clean Air Act and Alabama's air rules. Jilisa Milton, executive director of GASP, said communities should not have to wait indefinitely for legally required protections, adding that affected residents deserve action rather than delay.
Health Department Says It's Waiting on EPA
One day after the lawsuit was filed, the Jefferson County Department of Health notified the Southern Environmental Law Center it was moving forward with the permitting process, the nonprofit said. Hicks wrote that the department disagreed it had failed its legal obligations and did not believe litigation was necessary or appropriate at that time, according to the same account. He said the agency was waiting on a regulatory assessment from the Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency before acting further on the application.
The Southern Environmental Law Center countered that there is no requirement for the EPA to conduct such an assessment, and wrote that the agency could delay its review indefinitely unless the county health department submits a proposed permit — which triggers a required 45-day EPA review window, the group noted. Birmingham Watch has reported that the department delayed drafting a renewed permit until January partly because it was awaiting clarity on changing federal coke-oven regulations, a shift tied to the Trump administration's broader rollback of Biden-era monitoring rules.
Benzene Readings and a History of Violations
Benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, has been a recurring concern at the Tarrant facility. Monitoring equipment at ABC Coke has recorded benzene levels more than 60 percent above the cited threshold, with estimated cancer risks in north Birmingham and Tarrant reaching as much as 1.7 additional cases per 10,000 people, per Inside Climate News. Fenceline monitoring programs at coke facilities in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Alabama have separately recorded benzene levels as high as 14 times the occupational exposure limit recommended by industrial hygienists, the outlet reported.
The company's compliance record includes a $775,000 civil penalty Drummond Coal agreed to pay in 2019 over alleged Clean Air Act violations tied to benzene releases. ABC Coke was later fined $52,000 in 2022 and $90,300 in 2024 for permit violations, according to the SELC. The company also entered a federal consent decree in 2021 requiring it to monitor benzene leaks following its history of violations; the EPA said the decree required Drummond to enclose open waste streams, seal leaking equipment, and overhaul its leak detection and repair program. Birmingham Watch has reported that the draft permit itself summarizes three violations and two warning letters issued to ABC Coke since May 2021, and critics contend the draft improperly excludes some boilers from new pollution and work-practice standards while failing to make certain requirements enforceable.
Federal Rule Changes Add to the Uncertainty
The dispute unfolds against a backdrop of shifting federal rules governing coke ovens nationwide. In 2025, the Trump administration announced a two-year exemption for coke oven operators from a Biden-era rule requiring fenceline air-quality monitoring and improved workplace practices, according to Inside Climate News reporting on a separate case. The Southern Environmental Law Center and GASP are challenging that exemption in court, part of a broader suit by environmental and grassroots nonprofits asking a judge to declare the decision unlawful.
The EPA had issued new monitoring requirements and emissions limits for some coke-oven hazardous air pollutants in 2024 under the Biden administration, but by July 2025 the agency, under the Trump administration, announced it was reconsidering some of those limits and monitoring provisions, Birmingham Watch reported. That regulatory back-and-forth is part of what the Jefferson County Department of Health has cited in explaining delays to ABC Coke's permit. It remains unresolved how the ongoing litigation and federal rule changes will ultimately affect the timeline for a final permit decision.
