Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant

The Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant is a steel processing plant operated by U.S. Steel and historically a "hot strip mill" (sometimes referred to as a "steel mill") in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The site consists of 650 acres on a hilltop 250 feet above the Monongahela Valley.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zGgdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JV0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7059,4527609|title=U.S. Steel Salutes Irvin Mill For 80 Million Tons Of Reasons|date=April 10, 1981|author=William H. Wylie|page=B-8|work=The Pittsburgh Press}}

The plant has an annual capacity of 2.9 million net tons of steel from an 80″ hot strip mill, 64″ and 84″ Pickle lines, 84″ five-stand cold reduction mill, continuous annealing line, batch and open-coil annealing facilities, 84″ temper mill, 52″ hot-dip galvanizing line and a 48″ hot-dip galvanizing line, as well as the #11 Shear Line and #17 Recoil line. The #11 shear line starts with the Kline conveyor.

History

File:President Obama Irvin Plant MyRA.png

The mill was announced on May 22, 1937 and opened in phases starting on March 2, 1938 while being dedicated on December 15, 1938{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LG0jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JkwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3973,4938970 |title=An Aerial View of New Irvin Works North of Clairton |date=November 21, 1938 |page=5|work=The Pittsburgh Press}} for U.S. Steel and was constructed by Mesta Machinery. U.S. Steel has claimed that construction of the hilltop site required more cubic yards of earth moved (4.4 million cubic yards) than any project other than the Panama Canal. The cost of the construction of the facility was estimated at $63 million (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|63000000|1938|r=0}}}} today).[http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/chronology/chronology_driver.plq=&op1=AND&q2=&op2=AND&q3=&searchtype=single&year=&month=5&day=22&year1=1717&month1=5&day1=1&year2=2011&month2=12&day2=31&start_line=0&page=adv]{{dead link|date=November 2018}} It produced its 80 millionth ton of steel in 1981 with a workforce of 4,000 that year.

In 1943 a Pittsburgh grand jury indicted four Carnegie Illinois foremen for destroying records of steel plating tests conducted at Irvin.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PlkbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ikwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1478,6094586 |title=Steel Company Indicted for Hiding Records |date=May 28, 1943|page=1|work=The Pittsburgh Press}}

Texas Governor Rick Perry made a major televised campaign stop at the plant in October 2011.{{Cite web |url=http://www.rickperry.org/news/pittsburg-gov-rick-perrys-full-remarks-on-energizing-american-jobs/ |title=Unknown node type | Texans for Rick Perry |access-date=2014-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218205322/http://www.rickperry.org/news/pittsburg-gov-rick-perrys-full-remarks-on-energizing-american-jobs/ |archive-date=2014-02-18 |url-status=dead }}

In January 2012 a large explosion and fire rocked the plant.{{cite web |url=http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/crews-battle-large-fire-at-us-steel-mon-valley-wor/nGqbm/|title=Crews Battle Large Fire At U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works' Irvin... |last=EndPlay|date=15 January 2012|publisher=}}

President Barack Obama visited the plant in January 2014 to launch his program on new retirement accounts, signing the myRA at a televised ceremony at the plant.{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?317482-1/Miffl|title=President: Speech in Pennsylvania|website=C-SPAN.org}}{{cite web|url=http://livewire.wtae.com/Event/President_Obamas_Pittsburgh_Visit/103828239|title=Pittsburgh PA News, Weather and Sports - WTAE-TV Pittsburgh Action News 4|publisher=WTAE|access-date=2014-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202155326/http://livewire.wtae.com/Event/President_Obamas_Pittsburgh_Visit/103828239|archive-date=2014-02-02|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/29/press-gaggle-press-secretary-jay-carney-and-treasury-secretary-jack-lew-|work=whitehouse.gov|title=Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew Aboard AF1 en route Pittsburgh, PA|via=National Archives|date=29 January 2014}}

In May 2019 U.S. Steel announced a project to spend $1 billion dollars to build a combined casting and rolling facility. The project was repurposed in 2021.{{cite web |title=US Steel cancels $1B upgrade to Pittsburgh plants |url=https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2021/04/30/us-steel-cancels-1b-upgrade-to-pittsburgh-plants/ |website=StateImpact Pennsylvania |language=en |date=30 April 2021}}

References

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