Legislators and officials from ArcelorMittal and the federal government met in East Chicago Thursday to celebrate a grant that helped fund a project to increase energy efficiency and sustain jobs at the Indiana Harbor integrated steel mill.
ArcelorMittal held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the start of a $63.2 million boiler project to reduce the company's reliance on buying electricity by generating 38 megawatts of power, enough to supply 30,000 homes a year with electricity.
A newly constructed boiler will accept gas from the Indiana Harbor east plant's No. 7 blast furnace from a flare to co-generate steam and electricity. With the boiler, the practice of releasing blast furnace gas through a flare stack is expected to be nearly eliminated.
The company estimated the project will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide by 340,000 net tons (nt) annually, the equivalent of removing about 62,000 cars off the road.
Company officials said the project would not have been possible without receiving the matching fund commitment from the US Department of Energy. The federal agency, which announced ArcelorMittal's award in November 2009, distributed more than $155 million to under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The construction project is expected take between 12 and 15 months, said Mark Whalen, general manager of ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor. The company estimates the project will support 360 jobs on the design, construction and manufacturing of the equipment. ArcelorMittal said the overall project will preserve 5,900 jobs at Indiana Harbor and for 26,800 skilled workers indirectly.