Asbestos Exposure at Bethlehem Steel Company – Staten Island Founded in 1895 and located on the north shore of Staten Island, Bethlehem Steel Company originally constructed wooden vessels under the name of The Burlee Drydock Company. In 1916 the yard began to construct steel ships. The shipyard was purchased and renamed by Bethlehem Steel Company […]
The roots of Erie Forge and Steel Company located at West 16th and Greengarden Boulevard in Erie, Pennsylvania, can be traced back to 1903, when the company operated as a small forge and machine shop known as the Erie Forge Company. In 1912, the company was officially named Erie Forge and Steel Company. At the […]
Wickwire Spencer Steel was located on River Road along the shore of the Niagara River in Tonawanda, New York. The steel plant opened in 1901 as Wickwire Steel Company. The million-square-foot steel plant had several buildings that housed blast furnaces, open hearth furnaces, blooming mill, billet mill and rod mills. In 1920, Wickwire Steel Company […]
Roblin Steel was located on South Roberts Road in Dunkirk, New York. The 12-acre site was first developed in 1910 as part of a locomotive manufacturing company called American Locomotive Company (ALCO). ALCO used this site to manufacture process equipment consisting of heat exchangers, tunnel shields and steel pipes. During WWII, ALCO manufactured naval vessels, […]
Auburn Steel Company (Austeel) was located in Auburn, New York, and it began operations in 1974. The steel mill was considered a “mini mill” and occupied an 812,000-square foot building. Auburn Steel was in the business of reclaiming old steel in order to melt it into billets and finished products. In February 1983, Auburn Steel […]
The South Buffalo Railway Company was established in 1899, as a short-line railroad owned by the Lackawanna Steel Company, the predecessor to Bethlehem Steel. The railway also served other customers in Lackawanna, including Donner-Hanna Coke, Ford and Republic Steel. The South Buffalo Railway spanned over fifty miles of track in Western New York. Bethlehem Steel owned the South Buffalo Railway […]
In the early 1940s, the United States government began a series of experiments, later known as the Manhattan Project, with the goal of manufacturing atomic weapons and power plants. After the end of World War II, the Atomic Energy Commission was created to establish civilian control over atomic energy development and weapons production. Several locations […]
The Simonds Saw and Steel facility in Lockport, New York, was established in 1911 to replace a previous facility in Chicago, Illinois. This move was undertaken in order to utilize hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, and to allow for greater control over the quality of the steel used in their tools. In 1965, Simonds sold […]
Buffalo and Lackawanna New York, have a rich steelmaking history. Republic Steel was built on the banks of the Buffalo River, giving it great access to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes and the rest of the United States. Ease in transportation and relatively inexpensive hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls made our community ideally suited […]
The Crucible Materials Corporation’s roots were established in 1876 when the Sanderson brothers of Sheffield, England founded a steel manufacturing facility in Syracuse, New York. The Sanderson facility was one of the thirteen plants that formed the Crucible Steel Company. Crucible, has since then, made its mark as a great technological innovator, when in 1883, […]
Crucible Industries is located on the west side of Onondaga Lake, roughly two miles from Syracuse, New York. Former employees of Crucible Industries (formerly Crucible Steel) have developed and died of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases. Workers in the steel industry were at high risk for exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was utilized throughout Syracuse, New […]
Bliss & Laughlin Steel was originally founded in 1891 in Harvey, Illinois. In 1929, Bliss & Laughlin constructed a bar mill in Buffalo in order to manufacture steel bars. The steel mill’s location enabled Bliss & Laughlin to provide easier access to markets on the East Coast. Located on Hopkins Street in South Buffalo, the […]
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Boilers heat water to the point where it is changed into steam. They are used in many applications, from residential heating to ship propulsion. Boilers can be very simple in design or quite complex. Because boilers operate at very high temperatures, exposed surfaces need to be insulated to retain heat and to prevent injury. There […]
A hot top is located on the top of a steel mold or ingot, and it traps impurities that rise out of steel as it cools and takes shape in the mold. During the steel making process, when molten steel has been sufficiently heated, it is poured into an ingot mold. While the steel cools, […]
At Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna, New York, the open hearth furnaces were the primary means of producing steel from pig iron. Open hearth furnaces remove impurities from molten iron, scrap steel and limestone when charged in the furnace. Heat for the furnace is supplied by blowing a combination of air and fuel gas into the […]
In 1964, Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna began to produce steel using basic oxygen furnaces (BOF). These furnaces processed metal more quickly than the open hearth furnaces and were cheaper to operate. Prior to the late 1970s, asbestos-containing refractory and insulating materials were used in the construction, maintenance and operation of basic oxygen furnaces. Asbestos was […]
The steel making process involved many different types of furnaces and ovens, all of which were lined with asbestos insulation. Asbestos refractory materials were used as an insulator and binder in the following units: Coke Ovens – The function of the coke ovens at Bethlehem Steel was to take the raw material, coal, and convert it […]
Laborers who worked in the steel industry were at high risk for asbestos exposure. Asbestos was utilized throughout the Bethlehem Steel Lackawanna Plant and could also be found in workers’ protective clothing. Workers who handled asbestos materials or were in the vicinity of others who did, were at a high risk for injurious exposure, and […]
Below is a list of job titles or occupational trades that may have been exposed to asbestos at the Bethlehem Steel Lackawanna Plant. Boilermakers Bricklayers Carpenters Construction Workers Crane Operators Electricians Firefighters Fireproofers Foremen Freight and Material Handlers Iron Workers Insulators Laborers Larry Car Driver Lidman Managers Maintenance Workers Masons Millwrights Painters Pipe coverers Pipefitters […]
Originally founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Lackawanna Steel Company moved its operations to Lackawanna, New York (a small city just outside of Buffalo) in 1902. After its transition from Scranton, the Lackawanna Steel Company grew rapidly, thereby removing workers and machines from its Scranton operations. Lackawanna’s new steel plant quickly grew and prospered as the […]
In recent years, former employees of Bethlehem Steel have developed and died of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases. Individuals who worked in the steel industry were at high risk for exposure to asbestos and coke oven emissions. Asbestos was utilized throughout the Bethlehem Steel Lackawanna Plant and could also be found in workers’ protective clothing. […]
Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation was created in 1938 by the merger of the Allegheny Steel Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Ludlum Steel Company of Watervliet, New York. In Watervliet, the Allegheny Ludlum steel plant was located on Lincoln Avenue, and it employed approximately 1,000 employees, many of whom were represented by labor unions, such […]
Allegheny-Ludlum Steel was initially established as the Atlas Crucible Steel Company in 1907. Located on Brigham Road in Dunkirk, New York, the steel plant manufactured wires, rods and bars from billets of stainless steel and other steel alloys. Atlas was acquired in 1929, by the Ludlum Steel and Spring Company. Beginning in the 1930s, Allegheny-Ludlum […]