Company and government officials say the project will help preserve Gary Works' nearly 3,900 steelworker jobs and could help ensure the 112-year-old mill lasts another century.

The public comment period on the proposed settlement ends June 6.

U.S. Steel says the lawsuit is "unnecessary" because it's cooperated with "government and regulatory entities to swiftly remediate" the plant's issues.

Chicago's corporation counsel mailed a legal notice Monday informing Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel that the city intends to sue the company for federal Clean Water Act violations.

Raw steel production in Indiana rose by 1.2 million tons last year to 24.4 million tons.

The park service says water and beach sand samples taken last week came back below laboratory reporting limits for hexavalent chromium, so it reopened the beaches Monday afternoon.

The company reported Tuesday that it leaked an unknown amount of wastewater containing hexavalent chromium into Burns Waterway in Portage

In the past few months, there have been two deaths at Gary Works, which is the largest steel mill in North America.

The Pittsburgh-based company, which employs thousands in Gary, is accusing China of price fixing, stealing trade secrets and mislabeling where its steel is coming from.