Rouge Steel plant to Close, lay off 343

[Lowell]

A legendary and iconic Detroit plant closes.

"Less than two months after acquiring AK Steel in a $1.1 billion deal, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is permanently shuttering the famed Dearborn Works plant.

The Ohio-based steelmaker plans to begin terminating the approximately 343 employees on July 5, the company said in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 notice to the state of Michigan.

The former Rouge Steel plant, once part of the world's largest manufacturing complex in Dearborn, fell on hard times after Ford Motor Co. spun it off in 1989 into an independent steel company.

Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal acquired the assets of the bankrupt steel mill for $285 million in 2004. The company made several acquisitions of U.S. steel plants totaling $2.7 billion in transactions over the next few years, increasing production capacity from 2.5 million tons in Dearborn to 11.4 million tons of capacity across the U.S."

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/manufa...ing-news-alert

[Metro25]

Woohoo! Another extreme polluter bites the dust! Can't wait for a Detroit with vastly improved air quality from now on.

First the incinerator shutters, then zug island, now this. We should celebrate.

[Ray1936]

First the incinerator shutters, then zug island, now this. We should celebrate.

I'm sure the 343 workers getting the ax are planning a celebration at the unemployment office.

Last one out of Michigan, turn out the lights.

[Metro25]

I'm sure the 343 workers getting the ax are planning a celebration at the unemployment office.

Last one out of Michigan, turn out the lights.

Yeah those 343 low paying jobs with terrible working conditions are totally worth the destruction of the environment and the illness/death caused by it to people living in the area. 343 jobs is nothing in the grand scheme of things, metro Detroit can create that many new jobs in a week...

[Meddle]

Low paying jobs ... at a steel mill?



I thought King Don was gonna make steel mills great again?

[renf]

I may be confused but I do not think Cleveland Cliffs is shutting the entire
former Ford steel plant on Miller Road. The story in Crain's reports they
are shutting the hot strip mill, the annealing mill and the tempering operation. Presumably that blast furnaces that actually produce steel and the other facilities there will continue in operating.
A little more information about pollution from the mill would be helpful. I thought that the mill now satisfies all state and federal requirements.

[enio]

I may be confused but I do not think Cleveland Cliffs is shutting the entire
former Ford steel plant on Miller Road. The story in Crain's reports they
are shutting the hot strip mill, the annealing mill and the tempering operation. Presumably that blast furnaces that actually produce steel and the other facilities there will continue in operating.
A little more information about pollution from the mill would be helpful. I thought that the mill now satisfies all state and federal requirements.

The Zug Island mill and the Marathon oil refinery produce massive amounts of pollution. Both should have been shut years ago. Air pollution caused by these two companies and other polluters downriver kills hundreds annually.

"The University of Michigan School of Public Health estimates that air pollution kills more than 650 Detroiters a year — more than twice the number of residents killed by gun violence annually. Thousands more are hospitalized, and children miss a disproportionate number of days at school because of illnesses and asthma.

"The health impact from air pollution in Detroit is substantial," the researchers wrote in a report titled "Working Together to Improve Detroit's Air," adding that "the impacts of poor air quality disproportionately fall on poor and minority populations."


"The census tracts in the Detroit metropolitan area with higher levels of air pollution are also more likely to be home to residents who are more vulnerable to adverse health effects associated with those exposures," the report states."

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/s...t?oid=23542211


"U.S. Steel Great Lakes Works has been listed as having “high-priority violations” every quarter annually for the last three years, according to enforcement and compliance records by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.


The status of operations have also been listed “non-compliant” since the start of 2016. It includes several failures to report to EPA on its emissions or exceeding allowable levels of dangerous pollutants, according to online federal records."

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-n...ir-we-breathe/

Will anyone miss either of these two companies? BTW, Marathon only employs about 500.

[MikeM]

The Zug Island mill and the Marathon oil refinery produce massive amounts of pollution. Both should have been shut years ago.

Will anyone miss either of these two companies? BTW, Marathon only employs about 500.

Why don't you just curl up in the fetal position and suck your thumb?

[enio]

Why don't you just curl up in the fetal position and suck your thumb?

So it is OK for these companies to kill hundreds and poison thousands yearly for a few hundred jobs? Why not force them to meet existing environmental laws and clean up the air and water they pollute.

[Richard]

So it is OK for these companies to kill hundreds and poison thousands yearly for a few hundred jobs? Why not force them to meet existing environmental laws and clean up the air and water they pollute.

You seem to be the type of person that really believes in what they are promoting,the best way to get back at those companies is to boycott them and never purchase anything that contains steel or uses petroleum products in the manufacturing process.

Thats the way to do it,hit them where it counts,in the pocketbook.

I looked at a shipping container full of new imported commercial appliances last week,all stainless steel and all starting to rust.

I did not buy it but people will because it is cheap,nobody cares if their fellow Americans make a living wage as long as they can buy stuff cheap.

Maybe if people actually started supporting their fellow Americans and jobs we would not be seeing this and it would be feasible for corporations to upgrade plants to meet standards.

I cannot really blame them for shutting down with all this green deal stuff going around,it is to risky,the problem is going to be is there does not appear to be a phaseout,it is going to be shutter and wait until it is productive to move on to an alternative.

That gap in between is what is going to cause problems.

At least Gary Indiana is happy for the much needed jobs,they probably would have no problem if you could recommend more companies to shut and move there.

Back in the day when people did their grocery shopping,you put your groceries in paper bags,recyclable and a renewal resource that did not destroy the environment.

Tree huggers said save the planet and switch to plastic bags.

How did that work out?

They said save the trees in California and do not cut them down.

Out of control fires rage in California destroying tens of thousands acres of trees and sends tons of co into the atmosphere.

Every time somebody gets the bright idea of saving the planet,it seems to destroy it faster and with irreversible harm and send that many more into poverty.

[Metro25]

So it is OK for these companies to kill hundreds and poison thousands yearly for a few hundred jobs? Why not force them to meet existing environmental laws and clean up the air and water they pollute.

I would say that I can't believe you're getting such backlash here for stating simple facts and simple logic but considering it's this site, I can.

[Richard]

Logic and facts apply if one actually owns the steel plant or refinery and know what the compliance numbers are.

It is easy to say what they can do and call it logic,but who is really being illogical?

Have not seen any proof that existing environmental laws are being broken as alleged.

[Meddle]

Have not seen any proof that existing environmental laws are being broken as alleged.

Metro and Enos say so! Ain't that good enuff?

[renf]

Do I recall that shortly after Michael Duggan became mayor, Marathon Oil asked for a delay in getting their southwest Detroit into compliance with
Michigan environmental regulations. The mayor, I believe, turned them down and threatened to sue if Marathon did not comply with state regulations. Marathon, as I recall, complied.
I believe there is a standard system for measuring pollution in southwest
Detroit. Is there evidence that the steel mills, cement plants and oil facilities there are consistently out of compliance with state and federal regulations? I realize that many people think that we need much stronger federal and state regulation. Given the pandemic and the very high rate of job loss, environmental concerns may not get much emphasis. I was
discouraged to see that the presidential candidates who put environmental issues toward the top of their list generally fared poorly in the primary elections this year.

[Richard]

Each time somebody says,hey we need new environmental rules and you have to comply it translates into billions that a company has to spend.

Then out comes the number crunchers.

It cost X amount to upgrade,we can pass X amount on to the consumer,and if it does not match it is time to pack the suitcase and go.

To build a new oil refinery in the United States it takes 30 years just for the permitting process,along the way the environmental concerns change like the wind so the process has to start over or more time is added to tweak in order to comply.

Eventually the regulations become so overpowering that it just becomes more economically sound to move the plant to another country.

Big difference in what we demand and the actual reality of it all.

You know who profits from a constantly revolving clean air act?

The contractors who bring it up to compliance,the companies just deal with it until what the consumer is willing to pay becomes less then what it costs to produce then it is time to just shutter the location.

The companies do not lose,they just move elsewhere.

It is not that people are not concerned about the environment,they just weigh the difference in having a good paying job verses working a service job.

Then the politics of banning straws while in the process overlooking the billions of plastic bags floating about destroying the environment.

As you can see it is much easier to blame the big bad companies it removes the personal responsibility out of the picture.

The question used to be “paper or plastic” you see where the public went with that.

Then to feel good about themselves it became popular to recycle,millions of more plastic bins created,while pumping more pollution into the air,and millions of gallons of the very fossil fuel that they oppose,in order to sort through their garbage and save the planet,when after all that work less then 10% of the product actually gets recycled in the first place.

The billions of plastic bags .... they are not even recycled.

Yippi we can now order online and have it delivered to my house,how many more boxes,millions of gallons of fuel,packing materials,etc has that now created and put into the environment where before it was one truck delivery to a location serving 1000s.

People do not actually care about the environment,it just sounds good to say you do.

[JonWylie]

People do not actually care about the environment,it just sounds good to say you do.

Yikes

[Richard]

Yikes

Lol,you ever see a save the planet rally where the people that were participating in,were not drinking water out of single use plastic water bottles?

I am not a save the planet or climate change fanatic,but I am conscience about my spending habits and what and how I consume.

Go to the store,that Coca Cola bottle is available in glass or plastic at the same price.

Which brings us back to the manufacturing aspect,it is a dirty business by nature but it can be done in a responsible way.

Our answer is to send it to a country where it is completely unregulated where in the bigger picture,it is doing more damage to the environment then it was here.

We really did not accomplish anything outside of taking it out of sight out of mind and put people to work bussing tables instead of buying homes.

Back in the day beer cans came with a removable tab,they were everywhere on the ground etc.

So what did they do? They came up with a simple solution that impacted in a positive way,it was a simple solution that did not require burning down the town in order to save it or reinventing the wheel.

[401don]

Lol,you ever see a save the planet rally where the people that were participating in,were not drinking water out of single use plastic water bottles?

My favorite is the person in line at the grocery store with their own reusable bags. Great, except one of the items they're buying is a giant box of Glad Kitchen Catchers.

[Richard]

It’s the irony

I cannot say much,I have an IPhone made in China by workers that have zero rights,out of materials imported from Africa,mined by children working 18 hours a day for wages that amount to about $2.00 per day,and because of no protections they will be lucky to see their teenage years.

Everything we champion for in the world,we overlook when it benefits us,until it comes to our fellow citizens being able to support their families in a decent manner.

At that point it becomes time to save the planet.

My made in America kitchen appliances from the 1940-1950s are still working,because that was who we were as a nation.

Canada was the same way.

People can say we will never return back to manufacturing and we do not want those nasty businesses near us,but if they cannot see the repercussions of the alternative,then they are fooling themselves.

[Zacha341]

Well there's really no working around purchasing trash bags, jumbo or the tall kitchen white ones. I do reuse my zip-lock freezer bags a couple of times!

My favorite is the person in line at the grocery store with their own reusable bags. Great, except one of the items they're buying is a giant box of Glad Kitchen Catchers.

[Richard]

It is interesting how the trash bags we buy for the restaurants are made with a high percentage of recycled material.

But my dollar general trash bags and most others are not,at least the DG brand is made in the US.

Interesting with the Zip Lock bags,here with a high percentage of immigrants from poor countries also wash and reuse theirs,mostly because they would be considered a luxury in their country of birth.

I do not do it because I am that lazy,and they do not clean well in the dishwasher.

Wal-Mart uses bags that are made with a percentage of recycled material but they are the only place you can bring them to for recycling,we get a fine if we put them in the recycling bin,they plug up the separation machines at the recycling plant.

Most city and county recycling plants actually loose money,so it cost more and only 20% of all plastics can actually be recycled in the first place,the rest are low grade and no money in it to pay for the process.

Tupperware was actually the best route in eliminating single use,but we then went for cheap and have to save the planet as a result.

[Zacha341]

^^^ As the adage goes "The cheap comes out expensive....". On many levels.

[Richard]

^ my living room sofa and chairs are ornate from the 1920s,I pulled them out of the dump,had the upholstery steam cleaned and they look new,that was 5 years ago.

In my hood,every time a renter moves,they leave a big pile of furniture at the curb and just buy more cheap junk for the next place.

They say the poor cannot afford to buy cheap stuff,if you have to keep buying the same items over and over you really are not saving anything over buying quality in the first place.

I have a vintage claw foot tub,toilet with a wall mount tank,pedestal sink and an beveled mirror 1800s medicine cabinet that I have moved to my current house for the 4th time,I buy vintage houses and redo the bathrooms to match the year built and when I sell them the first thing everybody says is .... well the bathrooms need to be updated,so I say okay I am taking everything out. Lol

The toilet alone has a resale value of $450 but everything I have I got when it was thrown away at the curb,their choice of a replacement toilet is a new $80 toilet that will not last a year.

[Dumpling]

I have a vintage claw foot tub,toilet with a wall mount tank,pedestal sink and an beveled mirror 1800s medicine cabinet that I have moved to my current house for the 4th time,I buy vintage houses and redo the bathrooms to match the year built and when I sell them the first thing everybody says is .... well the bathrooms need to be updated,so I say okay I am taking everything out. Lol

The toilet alone has a resale value of $450 but everything I have I got when it was thrown away at the curb,their choice of a replacement toilet is a new $80 toilet that will not last a year.

I like the vintage chairs and dresser that came with the fifties bungalow I bought. The are still solid, still doing what they were supposed to do back in the fifties. Had to put plastic bags and towels on all of it, though, to accomodate the cats.

Am thinking some Play-Doh [[or - maybe the grownup hardware store version) would get the $80 replacement toilet's handle to stay together for a year or more but still keep it easy to disassemble.

The threads are stripped and the outside half could fall off the inside half. Cheap, cheap, cheap. The real estate listing can mention comedy value.

[Dumpling]

During these COVID-19 months it has been very quiet in this industrial area. The flare stack at Zug is still on. The rail bridge from Zug over the Rouge River shortcut channel is usually in the up position these days whereas it used to usually be down so that the Delray Connecting Rail Road hot iron railcars could travel back and forth from the Zug furnaces to the Ecorse steel mill.

So far as I know the Ford Rouge plant will still make trucks once
it is running again. Have not seen the Ford plant tour buses lately.
Those are probably not considered to be essential.

The Detroit Marine Terminal [[used to be a steel shipping yard) seagull flock is still abundant but pest control trucks were seen nearby. Last year persons wearing Hazmat suits walked through the nesting area on several different occasions collecting the seagull eggs. A flock of cormorants is visiting the area. These may be transient, waiting for snow free days further north in Michigan; today was not a snow free day Up North.