Steel Mill

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 deal to sell the Sparrows Point steel mill to E2 Acquisition Corp. is in flux as discussions continue while possible new partners wait in the wings. Two self-imposed deadlines have come and gone as ArcelorMittal and E2 and the United Steelworkers union have tried to hammer out a final agreement. Because of the delays, agreements between E2 partners and Chicago Heights, Ill.-based Esmark Inc., which is leading the joint venture, have expired. The global investor group includes Franklin Templeton Investments; Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a Brazilian iron ore producer; and Industrial Union of Donbass Corp.

Bethlehem Steel Corp. has agreed to an unprecedented, multimillion-dollar cleanup at its Sparrows Point plant to curb pollution that has been fouling the air, water and land for years, federal and state environmental officials were to announce today.The Environmental Protection Agency, Maryland Department of the Environment and the U.S. attorney's office have scheduled a joint announcement that they said should "significantly reduce pollutants" from the sprawling 2,500-acre steel-making complex in eastern Baltimore County.

GOV. PARRIS N. GLENDENING exaggerated the other day when he called Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s plan to build a new $300 million cold-rolling mill at its Sparrows Point plant Maryland's "biggest economic development news in several decades." Those are overly optimistic words for an operation that will cut 900 of Beth Steel's 5,400 jobs by the year 2000. But Mr. Glendening's error was one of degree, not of substance.The fact that Sparrows Point has snared this steel mill is very good news. It is a credit to the governor, Sens.

IF JAMES HOWARD Kunstler were advising Anne Arundel County citizens and officials revising the county's general development, his advice would be simple: Get rid of zoning.In a provocative article in The Atlantic Monthly, Mr. Kunstler argues that post-World War II zoning codes have produced sprawling American suburbs of "stupefying ugliness."The commercial squalor that lines most suburban thoroughfares is obvious to all, yet we find ourselves unable to change it.Mr. Kunstler, the author of the 1993 book "The Geography of Nowhere," a blistering critique of American suburban development since World War II, says the jumble of grocery stores, fast-food restaurants, muffler shops and convenience stores is no accident.

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- He's the same old Stoney, simple and innocent and pure. He doesn't want to return to the majors -- far from it. He wants only to honor the wishes of a friend, a friend who was a father figure, a friend who died only two weeks ago.The baseball world used to laugh at Jeff Stone. He once confused a shrimp cocktail with an alcoholic beverage. Asked if the moon in Venezuela was the same as the one in Missouri. Played baseball so ineptly, he became the symbol of the 0-21 Orioles.

Riding the crest of what has been called the best steel market in 20 years, Bethlehem Steel Corp. yesterday reported its first annual net profit since 1989. But the results would have been even more impressive if a key Indiana blast furnace had not been shutdown, adding more than $150 million to the company's expenses."We are very pleased with the year. It was a strong year," said Curtis H. Barnette, chairman and chief executive officer of Pa.-based Bethlehem. "We completed major modernization projects that were essential for the long-term strength of our company."

Lawsuit filed against publishersThe American Booksellers Association said yesterday it filed an antitrust lawsuit against five publishers, claiming they discriminate against small bookstores and favor large retail chains.The publishers enter into secret deals with large bookstore chains and warehouse buying clubs, offering discounts and promotional pricing not available to other stores, the trade group charged.The trade group, which represents 4,552 retail bookstores across the country, filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia against Houghton MifflinCo.

For the first time in 15 years, Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point steel mill has asked for applications from the general public to fill up to 200 jobs at the Baltimore County plant.The request, which has been met by an avalanche of more than 4,500 inquiries, comes as the steel mill is working at full capacity and workers -- whose average age is 50 -- are putting in an average of five to six hours of overtime a week."We want new people," said Duane R. Dunham, president of Bethlehem's Sparrows Point Division.

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.

A pair of environmental groups is threatening to sue state and federal environmental agencies as well as the present and former owners of the Sparrows Point steel mill complex, accusing them of failing to clean up pollution of the industrial site and of the surrounding community, as they promised to do 12 years ago. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper contend that toxic waste from the steel-making complex is contaminating the...

1928 landmark to be restored A development team has launched a $1 million project to restore the 1928 landmark building that was constructed to house Baltimore's North Street Market. The team, which includes the owner of the nearby Charles Theatre, envisions an arts-focused mix of shops, eateries and offices that can become a gathering spot for Charles North, part of the emerging Station North arts district. Health data exchange set In a bid to improve treatment and reduce errors, Erickson Retirement Communities, Johns Hopkins Medicine, MedStar Health and the University of Maryland Medical System plan to create a pioneering health information exchange that would give emergency room physicians quick access to patients' medication histories.

The global economy has done its part: Russia's OAO Severstal has agreed to buy the Sparrows Point steel mill and invest in badly needed upgrades. Now Maryland politicians should do theirs. If they insist on steeply taxing Sparrows Point's steelmaking process - the upshot of global warming legislation being debated in Annapolis - all the rubles in the world won't let the Point thrive. The governor and General Assembly seem to get how a 6 percent tax on computer services will transport Maryland jobs elsewhere.

Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal announced yesterday that it is buying the steel plant at Sparrows Point and says it plans to run the mill at full capacity and invest up to half a billion dollars during the next five years to improve productivity. Severstal, led by a Russian billionaire who is one of the world's wealthiest men, emerged as the successful bidder in the government-ordered sale, saying it will pay $810 million in cash for the Baltimore County plant. An agreement with an earlier buyer that would have paid Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal $1.3 billion for the plant collapsed over a lack of financing.

The current owner of Sparrows Point is a rapidly growing multinational steel giant controlled by one of the world's richest men. Sparrows Point's new owner will be a rapidly growing multinational steel giant controlled by one of the world's richest men. But there are some key differences. Seller ArcelorMittal is controlled by the world's fourth-richest man, Lakshmi N. Mittal, according to Forbes magazine, which this month estimated his net worth at $45 billion. Mittal was already a billionaire when he began buying up steel companies, and the behemoth he's assembled is the world's biggest steelmaker.

Representatives from AK Steel Holding Corp., one of the few American steel companies left after years of industry consolidation, were set to tour the steel mill at Sparrows Point as early as yesterday, according to a memo sent to workers, as federal officials again prepare the plant for sale. The West Chester, Ohio-based company did not return telephone calls yesterday seeking comment about whether it is considering a bid for the steel mill or to confirm if representatives had visited the plant.

Sparrows Point for sale again A deal to sell the Sparrows Point steel mill to a group led by steelmaker Esmark Inc. collapsed, reopening a government-supervised search for a new owner. ArcelorMittal said it canceled the purchase agreement because the prospective buyer, E2 Acquisition Corp., was unable to secure the necessary financing. Port turns to investors Officials at Baltimore's port are sounding out investors to help pay for a $120 million project to deepen a berth at the Seagirt Marine Terminal to accommodate bigger ships.

The deal to sell the Sparrows Point steel mill to E2 Acquisition Corp. is in flux as discussions continue while possible new partners wait in the wings. Two self-imposed deadlines have come and gone as ArcelorMittal and E2 and the United Steelworkers union have tried to hammer out a final agreement. Because of the delays, agreements between E2 partners and Chicago Heights, Ill.-based Esmark Inc., which is leading the joint venture, have expired. The global investor group includes Franklin Templeton Investments; Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a Brazilian iron ore producer; and Industrial Union of Donbass Corp.

Mario J. Boiardi, a retired Eastern Shore businessman and son of the Italian-born chef who created the "Chef Boyardee" line of canned foods, died of cancer Saturday at his Queenstown home. He was 81. Mr. Boiardi - whose last name is pronounced "Boyardee" - was born in Cleveland and raised in Milton, Pa. His father, Hector J. Boiardi, an Italian immigrant who had been head chef of the Plaza and Ritz-Carlton hotels in New York City, and his mother, Helen, moved to Cleveland in 1917, where they opened a restaurant.