Steel Mill

Several hundred former Sparrows Point workers gathering late Monday afternoon for details of their steel mill's demise heard from union leaders that at least two groups had wanted to restart the plant but weren't given the chance. Joe Rosel, president of United Steelworkers Local 9477 in Sparrows Point, told the crowd that Sherman International, an iron and steel equipment supplier in Pittsburgh, wanted to operate the plant and tried to bid $150 million for it last week. "They were told they couldn't bid because the plant wasn't for sale anymore," Rosel said.

The great steel mill of Sparrows Point is gone, and it's never coming back. Local, state and federal officials, along with union leaders, made a valiant attempt to find a new operator who would restart production there, but it was not to be. The plant's 12-year-old cold mill is being sold to a company that will disassemble it and use it for spare parts, and the rest of the complex will be razed to the ground. An institution that provided not just employment but an identity to a community, a factory that represented America's industrial and military might, is now just another relic of history.

The effort to connect former Sparrows Point workers with training for new careers gained more urgency last week as the final hopes of the steel mill reopening were dashed - and as the deadline to apply for the help or forever lose it fast approaches for hundreds. More than 1,600 of the people laid off from the Baltimore County plant are eligible for federal "trade adjustment" benefits, which cover retraining costs and come with a stipend equal to unemployment benefits once those run out. Only half have enrolled.

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An out-of-state steelmaker has bought the most valuable piece of the Sparrows Point plant to use as spare parts, a move that could kill the last hopes that the steel mill might be purchased by an operator and reopened. American Metal Market reported late Wednesday that Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor Corp. had acquired the major portion of Sparrows Point's 12-year-old cold mill, the newest part of an old facility. Nucor's president, John Ferriola, told the trade publication that the acquisition would be used for upgrades and to replace parts at the company's own mills.

The owners of the Sparrows Point steel mill plan to raze the closed plant, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Thursday, as political leaders from Towson to Washington mourned the loss of a landmark that once employed tens of thousands. The officials, including Gov. Martin O'Malley, vowed to help steelworkers who have lost their jobs. But the head of United Steelworkers Local 9477 was angry that a key part of the plant is being sold to North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. — to be used for spare parts.

The Maryland Food Bank said it handed out food Wednesday to hundreds of families affected by the mass layoffs at Sparrows Point. About 2,000 workers lost their jobs after RG Steel filed for bankruptcy in late May and idled the Baltimore County steel mill. The property since has been sold to owners who are trying to find a steelmaker to restart operations but will liquidate the mill and redevelop it if they can't. The food bank, which also handed out food on Tuesday to laid-off steelworkers and others buffeted by the shutdown, said it expected to distribute more than 60,000 pounds to more than 1,700 people between the two days.

Sparrows Point's new owners are setting a three-month deadline for interested parties to bid on the idled steel mill complex — in whole or in pieces. That's slightly longer than the 10 weeks the Baltimore County property was marketed during its previous owner's bankruptcy case. Environmental Liability Transfer, a St. Louis redevelopment company, and liquidation firm Hilco Trading won the bidding in August and closed on the $72.5 million deal earlier this month. Now the complex is for sale again — a turning-point moment that will determine whether steelmaking is part of the site's future or just its past.

The massive Sparrows Point complex changed ownership Friday for the fifth time in less than a decade, potentially its last sale as a steel mill. The new owners, redevelopment firm Environmental Liability Transfer and liquidator Hilco Trading, paid $72.5 million for property that sold for $810 million just four years ago. About 2,000 people worked at the mill before seller RG Steel idled it after filing for bankruptcy in late May, and they were...