Nucor Steel West Virginia Seeks Army Corps Authorization

The new mill will be located near Apple Grove in Mason County, W.Va., with access to the Ohio River. Two electric arc furnaces (EAFs), a hot strip mill, a cold mill, indoor and outdoor storage facilities, inbound and outbound transportation facilities, air pollution control baghouses, electric substations, a slag processing facility, access roads, material storage areas, and stormwater and wastewater treatment facilities will occupy approximately 664 acres of the overall 691-acre site, according to the application seen by SMU.

Nucor plans to construct new barge loading, unloading, and fleeting areas to allow for the delivery of raw materials and for the transportation of finished products, located 7,500 linear feet on the left descending bank of the Ohio River between river mile points 281 and 282.

The company has proposed a one-time dredging of 2,370 c ubic yards of the river to allow for temporary material unloading for construction and construction of a shallow slope ramp.

A total of 1,054 linear feet of intermittent/ephemeral streams and 10.1 acres of palustrine wetlands would be permanently filled under Nucor’s current plans, with an additional nine acres of temporary disturbance to the Ohio River. “Avoidance and minimization efforts were incorporated into the proposal,” the application states.

Since the proposed project is located within the known range of a variety of endangered or threatened species, including the Indiana bat, the northern long-eared bat, and a handful of mussel varieties, the Corps is evaluating the area to ensure none of the federally listed species are detected.

The Corps is asking for comments from the public, federal, state, and local agencies and officials, Indian Tribes, and other interested parties considering the impacts of the proposed mill. Unless approval is found to be contrary to public interest, the permit will be granted.

By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com