Century Aluminum has settled federal allegations that its Mt. Holly smelter in Goose Creek mishandled hazardous waste.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a consent agreement and final order Sept. 23 resolving alleged violations of state and federal environmental laws at the plant, the Chicago-based company disclosed in its quarterly report filed Nov. 5. The alleged violations involved the storage, labeling and handling of hazardous waste, and Century said it has paid a civil penalty of about $0.4 million.
EPA records put the federal penalty more precisely at $353,557 and list another $120,000 for actions to bring the plant into compliance. The alleged violations date to a June 26, 2024, inspection by EPA and state regulators that found problems with hazardous waste generator rules, shipping manifests, universal waste, used oil and containment buildings, according to the agency’s enforcement database. EPA listed the plant as a significant noncomplier under federal hazardous waste rules from January 2025 until late September, the database shows.
South Carolina regulators fined the plant $361,500 in a Clean Air Act case in March 2025, according to the same database.
The disclosure came with third-quarter results. Century reported net income of $302.6 million on sales of $961.2 million, up from $249.3 million and $752.1 million in the second quarter. Most of the sales gain came from its Iceland smelter returning to near full production, the company said.
Finishing the restarts at Mt. Holly and in Iceland cut operating costs by $4.2 million from the second quarter, Century said. U.S. shipments, from Mt. Holly and a smelter in Sebree, Kentucky, rose to 98,183 metric tons from 90,703 a year earlier.
Mt. Holly gets all of its power from Santee Cooper under a contract that runs through December 2031, and its workers are not represented by a union, the report says.
Century expects fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $275 million to $300 million.
