May4, 2012

VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS Attn : Compliance Tracker, AE-17J Air Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Branch U.S . Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 77 W. Jackson Boulevard Chicago, Illinois 60604 HIBBING TACONITE COMPANY Managed by Cliffs Mining Company 

# CLIFFS

4950 County Highway 5 North, PO Box589, Hibbing, MN 55746-0589 P218 262.5950 cliffsnaturalresources.com

Re: Request to HibbingTaconite Companyfor Information Pursuant to Clean Air Act Section 114

Dear Mr. Czerniak: This letter and the enclosed information are the response of Hibbing Taconite Company (referred to herein as "HTC" or "Hibbing") to Appendix C of the U.S. EPA Region V Clean Air Act Section 114 Information Request (the "Request"), regarding the facility located at 4950 County Road 5N in Hibbing, Minnesota, which was received on April 6, 2012. The Request originally required a response within 15 days of receipt, but subsequent conversation and correspondence with Ms. Molly DeSalle of EPA staff on April 20, 2012 extended the deadline for submittal to May 7, 2012. HTC hereby provides this timely response to the Request, with the understandings and clarifications noted herein. HTC has given careful consideration to this Request and each ofits questions to ensure that its response is properly tailored to the information EPA has requested HTC has made a good faith effort to respond to this Request in the time allotted. To the ex tentthat the response does not include all ofthe information anticipated by your request, we ask that EPA first consider the information attached hereto and evaluate what, if anything, may U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Attn: Compliance Tracker, AE-17J P age 1still be reasonably required under Clean Air Act Section 114(a). To the extent that EPA identifies continuing needs for information, please contact us to discuss howwe may further assist you. This response restates each ofthe questions in the Request and provides a narrative explanation ofthe responsive information as necessary. Responsive documents are referenced in the narrative and included with this letter. The attachments are organized by numeric references that correspond to the questions below. Documents responsive to multiple questions are identified in the narrative response to each question, and are included under the question to which the documents are most responsive. The documents provided have been scanned for viruses using Symantec Endpoint Protection Version 11. For the record, HTC notes that while it has made a good faith effortto respond to the Information Request, itdoes notwaive any of its rights to object to theform and content ofthe Information Request or any legal defenses that it might have to this Information Request or its admissibility in any administrative orjudicial proceeding. To the extent, this Information Request is overly broad and unduly burdensome; it seeks information that is not relevant to the compliance status of its facility; it is vague and ambiguous, and requires that legal conclusions be made to it, HTC objects to the Information Request on the grounds that it exceeds U.S.EPA's authority under Section 114 ofthe Clean Air Act. HTC also objects to the Information Request to the extentthat it requests information that is subject to attorney-client privilege or other applicable privilege, or that constitutes attorney work product or is otherwise not discoverable. Finally, to the extent that the questions are vague, ambiguous, overly broad or otherwise exceed U.S. EPA's authority under Section 114(a), HTC has made appropriate and reasonable efforts to respond to the questions to the best ofits ability, and has made reasonable interpretations ofthe questions. Ifyou have any questions regarding this information, please contact Ms.Julie Lucas of my staffat 

### (218) 262-68S6.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Attn: Compliance Tracker, AE-17J Page 2Certification I certify under penalty of law that I have examined and am familiar with the information in the enclosed documents, including all attachments. Based on my inquiry of those individuals with primary responsibility for obtaining the information, I certify that the statements and information are, to the best of my knowledge and belief, true and complete. Iam aware that there are significant penalties for knowingly submittingfalse statements and information, including the possibility offines or imprisonment pursuant to section 113(c)(2) ofthe Act, and 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001 and 1341.

Sincerely,

Edward M. LaTendresse General Manager Enclosure cc: JeffT. Connell, Manager Air Quality Division Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 520 Lafayette Road North St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 Ms. Mary Gade, Gade Environmental Group LLC Mr. Michael Long, Cliffs Natural Resources Mr. Scott Gischia, Cliffs Natural Resources

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Attn: Compliance Tracker, AE-17J Page 3