Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation announced today that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued an environmental air Permit to Install for the electric arc furnace.
"This is a victory for the environment, the community and the company," said Harry Page, Vice President of Engineering, Technology and Metallurgy. "In the aggregate, the communities of Steubenville, Follansbee and Mingo Junction will see a 35 percent reduction in annual air emissions."
The permit is the most complex and significant environmental permit issued in the Ohio Valley over the last several decades, explained Page.
The EAF is a major component of the company's business plan. The EAF will replace one of the company's two operating blast furnaces.
"An EAF typically uses scrap recycled steel and scrap alternatives as 100 percent of its feedstock. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, however, will have the capability to feed both scrap and liquid iron from its remaining blast furnace," said Page.
Wheeling-Pitt is basing its recovery to converting its Ohio operations from a basic oxygen furnace operation to one that is focused on the electric arc furnace technology. The company hopes that this conversion will allow the company to be a more competitive steel producer, both with domestic steel companies as well as steel producers throughout the world.