Steel Mills

Fire Fatality at US Steel Great Lakes Works
Written by Sandy Williams
December 15, 2013
An explosion and fire at the US Steel Great Lakes Works in Ecorse, Mich., has killed a worker and halted steel production. The Ecorse fire department was called to the scene of the fire at 2:50 am on Sunday morning.
US Steel spokesman Courtney Boone said that the explosion occurred at the plant’s steel shop and killed a remote control locomotive operator, Antonio Palazzo, 32. Two other employees were treated for minor injuries. Steel making operations have been interrupted. The incident is currently under investigation by the company, the union and appropriate regulatory agencies.
SMU sources advised that the incident involved the basic oxygen furnace (BOF). As a result of the explosion the BOF is down and the two working blast furnaces at Great Lakes have been put on hot idle.
Great Lakes Works, located on the Detroit River, manufactures hot rolled, cold rolled and coated sheet steels primarily for the auto industry. The facility operates three blast furnaces with an annual raw steelmaking capability of 3.8 million net tons.
U.S.Steel has another blast furnace down for maintenance at Fairfield Works in Alabama.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

U.S. Steel sues Algoma over iron pellet shipments
U.S. Steel is suing Algoma over the Canadian flat-rolled producer's rejection of iron pellet shipments, arguing it has breached its contract.

August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.

TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.

Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.