In an open letter, David B. Burritt, President & CEO, United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel) announced the company’s decision to nix the earlier announced $1 billion upgrades at its state-of-the-art Mon Valley Works.
He noted that two years back, it was a good day to stand shoulder to shoulder with our workers, community leaders, and neighbors to announce an investment at the steelmaking facility. However, today is a difficult day, as the company has decided to set aside this project.
The loss of the project means a loss of around 1,000 construction jobs, said industry groups.
The company had applied for necessary permits to begin construction at the time of announcement of the project, but has not received the same yet. Over these two years, U.S. Steel had commissioned the manufacturing of the equipment and began site preparations. The company has already invested over $170 million in the project, Burritt noted. The project would have led to significant reduction in carbon footprint, he added.
Meantime, the open letter reiterated its commitment to steelmaking in the Mon Valley for the next generation, in line with its goal to become carbon-neutral by 2050.
Also, U.S. Steel has decided to permanently idle Batteries 1, 2 and 3 at Clairton Plant, in a bid to improve environmental performance of the company.
