Once-Largest Steel Mill In The World Has Been Converted To Produce Clean Energy
Image via David Robert Crews / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sparrows Point, Maryland was once a steel production stronghold and formerly the largest of its kind in the world, having large stakes in the shipbuilding business and even producing the girders of the Golden Gate Bridge. It closed in 2012, but is now being given a new lease of life in the clean energy sector.
The project is headed by a partnership of the United Steelworkers union (USW), Tradepoint Atlantic, and US Wind. It hopes to support US Wind’s clean energy projects by ways of an 82-strong wind turbine development, Momentum Wind. It’s said to have the potential to increase the GDP of Maryland by US$6.9 billion over 20 years.
Tradepoint Atlantic purchased the site in 2014, and had put plans in place to revitalize the area and restore it to some, if not more, of its heyday glory. This included infrastructure, environmental cleanup, and community-focused amenities.
Image via UMBC
Sparrows Point, at its peak, had 31,000 employees including steelworkers. It has thus been heralded as a point of commerce, employability, and wealth in the areas surrounding it. Now, the new offshore wind energy facility will also carry on this tradition, creating 500 new full-time steelworker jobs and 3,500 construction jobs, as reported by Fast Company.
“The loss of the Sparrows Point steel mill, which once employed thousands of workers, was a huge blow to the Baltimore community and to US manufacturing as a whole,” USW International President Tom Conway said in a statement.
“Now, we have a chance to create the jobs of the future right here on this historic site and ensure that they are good, union jobs that will again support families across this region.”
The legacy of Sparrows Point is built on good jobs for families, and I’m excited about the prospect of the return of manufacturing to this site. The return of steel manufacturing to Sparrows Point is a full circle moment that will strengthen communities across our entire region. pic.twitter.com/V0wUwfgCm5
— County Executive Johnny Olszewski (@BaltCoExec) August 3, 2021
We worked with the company to ensure over 500 jobs at the newly created Sparrows Point Steel, located on the hallowed grounds of Bethlehem Steel, will be union jobs. The wind energy parts manufactured there will be #USWMade! More: https://t.co/GndVaVKPeL #1u pic.twitter.com/hss0wSZDQ0
— United Steelworkers (@steelworkers) August 3, 2021
[via Fast Company, images via various sources]
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