Mingo Junction Steelworkers Play the Waiting Game
02/18/2013 - Steelworkers and residents are anxious to learn the destiny of the silent RG Steel mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, which contains the US$115 million electric arc furnace installed when it wore the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel badge, The Review reports.
Steelworkers and residents are anxious to learn the destiny of the silent RG Steel mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, which contains the US$115 million electric arc furnace installed when it wore the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel badge.
Just up the road, it seems demolition of the former Steubenville plant is ongoing, as workers viewed from Ohio 7 this week could be seen pulling down part of the south side of the facility.
"Right now, we are just waiting to see like everyone else," said Ernie Gambellin, the most recent president of United Steelworkers Local 1190, which represents union employees and retirees from both plants. Because the mills have been shut down since 2009, Gambellin said the United Steelworkers district headquarters has taken over the leadership duties, thus relieving him of his official position.
Due to RG Steel's bankruptcy this year, Buffalo, N.Y.-based Frontier Industrial purchased the entire Mingo facility - including its electric arc furnace - for $20 million in the wake of RG's bankruptcy and liquidation last year.
Craig Slater, general counsel and vice president for Frontier, said in December his company was still working to find investors to help restart the mill. He said this would probably take at least $80 million and about six months of work.
"We are still doing everything we can to get a restart," Slater said this week. "We are having productive discussions. Everyone has been helpful, from the local level and the state level, down there…"
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