A handful of northern St. James Parish residents and environmental groups have asked federal regulators to sanction steel-maker Nucor over its history of pollution, claiming the state’s watchdog won’t take a hard enough line.

In a new petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Romeville-area residents and environmental groups claim the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has reached a weak and cheap settlement with the $33 billion public company over air permit violations, which, they argue, does nothing to deter future infractions.