Steel Mills
Incident at U.S. Steel Great Lakes Works
Written by Sandy Williams
August 2, 2017
U.S. Steel anticipates no delays in customer shipments following an explosion at its Great Lakes Works hot strip mill Monday night, which sent five employees to the hospital. Three of the injured were released, while two were admitted for further treatment. One employee was treated and released at the plant’s on-site medical facility.
The incident occurred in the reheat furnace at the hot strip mill in Ecorse, Mich., just before midnight on Monday. The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that officials said the explosion caused a 30- by 60-foot gap in a wall at the hot strip mill.
U.S. Steel said in a statement: “Operations at the Hot Strip Mill remain down, but additional operations at Great Lakes Works have not been affected. We do not anticipate any impact on customer shipments as we have additional Hot Strip Mill capacity at other domestic U.S. Steel facilities, if needed.”
U.S. Steel said an investigation into the incident is under way. The Employee Assistance Program has been activated to offer services to the injured employees and their families, as well as the coworkers of those injured.
“No further details regarding the incident are available at this time. Our thoughts are with our injured employees, their families and their coworkers at Great Lakes Works,” said U.S. Steel.
Sandy Williams
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