Sparrows

The local that represents workers at Sparrows Point is questioning the sale of the plant to an investment group led by Chicago-based Esmark Inc. United Steelworkers Local 9477 President John Cirri said yesterday that he sent a formal letter to the international union body - which had petitioned the Justice Department on Esmark's behalf to approve the deal - asking it to reconsider its support of the sale. Esmark and a group of investors and suppliers formed E2 Acquisition Corp. to purchase Sparrows Point from Mittal Steel Co. NV, of the Netherlands.

If Alabama and Louisiana had to obey the economic rules applying to most of the world, 2,400 workers at the Sparrows Point steel mill might have one less thing less to worry about. ThyssenKrupp would buy the Point, spend big money on improvements and ensure it a long and prosperous future. The German company badly wants a decent steel mill on a North American deepwater harbor, and Sparrows Point in Baltimore County is the perfect choice. At least it was - until the governors of Alabama and Louisiana stepped up. They're bribing ThyssenKrupp with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to put a new plant in one of their states.

For the better part of three decades, as Richard Offley grew from a boy to a man on the peninsula between the Patapsco and Back rivers, the Sparrows Point steel mill was at the center of community life. Back then, it was still owned by Bethlehem Steel Corp., as it had been since 1916, and many of its employees lived in its namesake company town. The mill put food on their tables, maintained their schools and churches and sponsored the softball teams. "`The Company,' we called it, whatever the Company wanted, that's pretty much what happened," said Offley, 62. "They owned the town, they owned the fire department, they owned the police department.

The bicentennial of Rachel Carson's birth is barely a month past and her shocking fantasy of a world without birds seems to be coming true. It's not pesticides that are at fault; Ms. Carson was very effective in banning their use. In this case, what's killing some of the most common birds in the state and the nation is thoughtless development that robs these homebodies of the meadows, pastures and forests they need to thrive. If there is any doubt about the critical need to carefully manage growth in a way that protects wildlife habitat, promotes agricultural conservation, preserves wetlands and diminishes the impact of global warming, it should quickly be resolved by the prospect of songbirds going silent.

DAP Products Inc., which made a splash last summer when it became the first office tenant in the renovated American Can Co. in Canton, said yesterday that it will be acquired by an Ohio company for $290 million in cash.The acquisition by sealant manufacturer RPM Inc., whose brands include Rust-Oleum and Bondex, is expected to close next month. DAP is a subsidiary of the publicly traded London equity firm Wassall PLC.DAP moved its headquarters and research-and-development operations from Tipp City, Ohio, to Baltimore last summer.

COCKEYSVILLE -- A construction crew working near Beaver Dam and Warren roads about 11 a.m. yesterday uncovered a box of blasting caps, and the light rail system was closed from Timonium to Hunt Valley as a precaution, officials said.The blasting caps, used to detonate dynamite, were unstable, said Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey, and might have been left from earlier construction work in the area. The police hazardous-devices unit went to the area to detonate them safely, he said.

Officials of WHX Corp. and the union that represents most of BethShip Inc.'s workers have met for the first time to discuss the New York-based company's interest in buying the Sparrows Point yard, union officials said yesterday."

Larry Storck turned the 43rd Baltimore City Amateur championship into a one-man show, as he opened a five-stroke lead on the field after the first round at Hillendale Country Club yesterday.Storck, a two-time CC Maryland club champion, had four birdies in posting a 4-under-par 34-34--68 over the 6,750-yard, par-72 Baltimore County course. Along the way were nine one-putt greens.Rick Riddle, from Sparrows Point CC, had two back-nine birdies in his 38-35--73. Justin Klein of Baltimore CC birdied the last two holes for 39-35--74, a total matched by Frank Neff, Sparrows Point CC, who was even through No. 13 and ended 36-38--74.

Cheer up. Britain is finally getting a Clinton look-alike for prime minister.Now that the excitement is over, maybe ''Ellen'' can go back to half-hour shows.If the Stadium Authority doesn't find more parking, Peter Angelos could move the Orioles to Sparrows Point.Lighten up. Ten-digit telephone numbers are no harder to remember than ten PIN numbers.Pub Date: 5/02/97

A General Assembly oversight committee signed off yesterday on a $5.5 million state grant to Bethlehem Steel Corp. to help with its construction of a new cold-rolling steel mill at its Sparrows Point plant.In all, Beth Steel plans to invest some $300 million in the mill in the coming three years. The new mill will need fewer workers, but state officials said without the new investment, the entire Sparrows Point plant faced closing.Total financial assistance for the project from the state and Baltimore County will reach $70 million, including $60 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds from the Maryland Energy Financing Administration.

The union that represents 2,500 employees at the Sparrows Point steel mill received a draft proposal from the plant's Russian owners last month detailing a restructuring that could affect as many as 580 jobs, or nearly a third of the workforce, according to the union president. John Cirri, president of United Steelworkers Local 9477, said in a phone interview Thursday that draft restructuring presented by Russian steel company Severstal detailed a number of ways the jobs could be affected, including reductions, retirements or transfers to other departments.

5 Consecutive state playoff appearances by Sparrows Point. The Pointers reached the state title game four times in that stretch. 9 Consecutive shutouts Archbishop Spalding posted to close the 2008 season, including the IAAM A title game. 10 Starters back from Glenelg's Class 1A state title team.

Environmentalists and residents sparred with state officials and the owner of the Sparrows Point steel mill on Friday over what's being done to curb air, water and soil pollution from the 2,300-acre industrial complex. Disputing complaints from environmental groups, a statement issued by Severstal North America Inc. said its steel mill is in compliance with a 12-year-old agreement to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater there. The company vowed to "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper organization have threatened to file alleging that the plant has done little of the remediation promised in 1997 and continues to pollute.

The general manager of the Sparrows Point steel mill in Baltimore County told a county economic development official that part of the plant will shut down temporarily this summer, putting hundreds of employees out of work. Baltimore County Economic Development Director David Iannucci said during a budget work session with the County Council Monday afternoon that general manager Thomas Russo told him the blast furnace would be temporarily shutdown in June. Iannucci said he was told the shut down would affect at least a third of the plant's 2,500 workers.

State and Baltimore County officials have asked federal energy regulators to rescind approval of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point in eastern Baltimore County and an 88-mile pipeline to Pennsylvania. Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision "hasty" and criticized the commission for issuing its approval order before the completion of critical environmental reviews. "By all appearances, the order was issued as quickly as possible after the issuance of the final environmental impact statement in an effort to approve the project before the change in presidential administrations," Gansler wrote to the FERC yesterday.

Federal officials have determined that a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point in eastern Baltimore County would have "mostly limited adverse environmental impact" if constructed and operated with certain measures in place, according to a report released yesterday. The final environmental impact statement, by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, comes months after a preliminary report, which recommended conditional approval for the project proposed by the Virginia-based AES Corp.

John G. Roberts Sr., a retired steel executive, former general manager of Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point plant and father of the chief justice of the United States, John G. Roberts Jr., died yesterday of respiratory failure at his Ellicott City home. He was 80. Mr. Roberts, the youngest of 10 children, was born and raised in Johnstown, Pa. After graduating from high school in 1946, he served in the Army for several years. After earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1951, he began his career with Bethlehem Steel at the company's plant in Lackawanna, N.Y. In 1963, he was promoted to electrical engineer at the company's new plant in Burns Harbor, Ind., and later was superintendent of its electrical department and finally assistant general manager in 1976.

Before this season, freshman goalie Brooke Carey only knew of the rich girls soccer tradition at Glenelg. Last night, she became part of it. After Glenelg and Sparrows Point played 100 minutes of scoreless soccer in the Class 1A state title game at UMBC Stadium, Carey turned back two Pointers penalty kicks and the Gladiators showed poise in finishing off four chances to come away with a 4-3 decision in the shootout that gave the program its third straight...

The last order of business for the Sparrows Point girls soccer team at Thursday's practice was extra work on penalty kicks. It proved time well spent yesterday in the Class 1A state semifinal game against Poolesville. After 100 minutes of play ended with the teams tied at 1, the Pointers showed better aim in the penalty-kick shootout to advance, 4-3. Junior midfielder Sarah Strait, who hadn't taken a penalty kick all season, calmly found the lower right corner to give the Pointers (11-5)

The lush 12-acre field, bordered by huge oaks and a rippling creek, would have been the perfect setting for a country house, with plenty of room for a few horses to gallop around. That, at least, was Ann Paszkiewicz's vision six years ago, when she paid $250,000 for the property near Fallston High School in Harford County. But yesterday, Paszkiewicz and other residents of the area who have been fighting a proposed natural-gas pipeline got the full measure of what the construction might mean to their properties.