U.S. Steel will soon begin
the process of closing the three oldest coke-making batteries at its Clairton
Plant, the company announced Tuesday.
The closing of batteries 1, 2 and 3 will take six days, and is
expected to be finished by the end of the month, U.S. Steel said.
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More than 100 employees worked on the project for over a year to
prepare for the closing, which U.S. Steel described as "a complex process
that will reduce emissions from the facility and support the company’s
ambitious climate goals."
U.S. Steel spokesperson Amanda Malkowski said there are
currently 10 batteries at the plant. There will be seven when the three
60-year-old batteries close.
The total number of employees at the Mon Valley Works is
about 3,000, and the Clairton battery closures will reduce that number by about
130 positions, Malkowski said.
"The battery closures are being undertaken without layoffs,
with reassignments and retirements offsetting the impact on the roughly 130
jobs affected by the closures," U.S. Steel said in a statement.
"These positions will not be replaced."
"U.S. Steel is overall optimistic for the future of the Mon
Valley Works," Malkowski told Pittsburgh's Action News 4. "This is
where we're from, and this is a place we deeply care about. The 3,000 people,
these are good-paying, family-sustaining jobs, and we'd like to keep as many as
possible."