12 Replies to "Nucor permit application: Time running out to comment"

• Picklemom November 20, 2007 (1:53 pm)

  Thank you to Julia, who shared this important info. Come on, everyone, let’s speak out. As a long-time resident of West Seattle who values good health for myself, my family, and my community, I am horrified and dismayed at the proposal to upgrade the Nucor Steel hoist crane. This will result in significant increases in air pollution. I am shocked that the Department of Ecology, presumably created to safeguard our environment, is considering approving this dangerous action. With asthma, lung diseases, and cancer on the rise, it is utterly irresponsible for Ecology to approve this.

• Mike November 20, 2007 (1:54 pm)

  The mill should be gone, move it! Its such an eyesore and the property could be used in ways much more suitable to westside.

• Maria November 20, 2007 (3:50 pm)

  With the deal they get from the city for power, they really aren’t that profitible. That said, one crain is going to kick out as much polution as a semi. What’s next, moving all of the port traffic. That causes ALOT more pollution that affects us than one crain.

• nunya November 20, 2007 (5:11 pm)

  It would be so much better if they just shipped all of that steel manufacturing business to China, those guys at the mill will all get unemployment. They can always get a job at Starbucks or that new art gallery. Manufacturing is so 1950!

• CandrewB November 20, 2007 (6:07 pm)

  Actually that place is doing quite well. Everything they make is going to China; it reduces the trade deficit, which is going to become more important than you realize. Instead of the traditional Northwestern black and white thinking, how about some creative ideas? A steel mill (http://www.finkl.com/Tour.aspx) in the heart of Lincoln Park, Chicago saw the writing on the wall decades ago. For those of you who don’t know, Lincoln Park is like Capitol Hill but with more money. They took the time and money cleaning up the place. When you are heading from one area to the next you would have no idea you just drove through a steel mill. Think Seattle could pull that off?

• Josh November 20, 2007 (10:43 pm)

  NUCOR is also very community oriented, giving significant support to local not for profits in WS.

• KMJ November 21, 2007 (9:07 am)

  Fact: NOTHING is exported to China. Products from the company not only are used in construction and infrastructure projects in the Puget Sound Region but provide jobs for these projects that in turn support your local and regional economy.

  I have seen the number of cars at a standstill leaving (and returning to) West Seattle during commute times and ponders this, does the anticipated output of air pollution of the proposed crane exceed the pollution exuded from these cars? I don’t know because I don’t have all the facts, but my suspicion is that they do.

• eileen November 21, 2007 (11:24 am)

  I read through the links related to their applicaiton. The crux is this – they will be able to process more steel and certain pollutants will increase because they will increase productivity. The linnks list that CO will increase beyond the level called significant. There will be an additional 261 tons per year in the air which is an increase of about 25% over what they currently contribute. I think the thing that bothers me is that they will not be requiring NUCOR to take measures/install technolgies to counteract this increase in pollution since certain types of equipment are not being modified. They’ve just increase productivity. That’s what I think is crap. There are other pollutants that wil also increase including VOCs, HAPs (hazardous air pollutants? ) NOX nitrogen oxcides and many others. Some of the increases get close to the “significance” level but not quite. One other quesiton is who will monitor this? Since some have reached this level why can’t conditions be imposed?

  Follow the links, get informed, add your two cents

• CandrewB November 21, 2007 (5:09 pm)

  My mistake, I misinterpreted an old article on how China was driving the steel market driving up prices thus allowing Nucor to do quite well. My fault.

• Trissa November 22, 2007 (10:21 pm)

  Boy am I bummed I didn’t keep up with my WSB reading this week. I live just a few blocks from Nucor and hadn’t heard anything about this. I sent the link for this post to the Pigeon Point Council to forward on to our neighborhood e-mail list. My concerns besides pollution include the increase in truck traffic (and continued damage to the curb at Delridge and Andover), and more noise from the mill. I also wonder where these application notices get posted and how our neighborhood council had no idea about it. I’ll be reading all the info tomorrow, and then I’ll make my comments.

• Ethan November 26, 2007 (11:28 pm)

  Well in certain ways this sucks for sure, but I trust the State DOE to make sound decisions about this; haven’t heard about that PSCAA until now though.

  And also let’s face it… I think that for many of us, one of the reasons we all chose to live in West Seattle (Pigeon Point, for me) is the relatively lower rents and land values.

  Not to worry though; as Seattle continues to grow and grow, there’ll be more pressure to replace industrial sites like that with other land uses. I’d suspect that within about 10 years, that site will have been turned into some kind of mixed-use retail and residential development. Or maybe a sports complex. Or maybe a park.

  But UNTIL THEN, people.. let’s be grateful for the lower rents and mortgage payments we have! :)

• Steel Worker November 28, 2007 (9:43 pm)

  That steel mill has been there for over 102 years. How long have you lived in West Seattle? Did you perhaps overlook it’s presence when you decided to purchase your residence?

  I work at Nucor. They aren’t adding a crane which emits more CO2 (all of our cranes are electric FYI). They want a permit to melt more steel then they are currently allowed. We are allowed to make something like 780K tons a year and want to increase to something like 1 million.

  We do actually ship billets (not finished product) to China but mainly are trying to keep up with the growing demand in the housing / construction market in the NW and Canada.

  I resent the implication that “manufacturing is so 1950”. The people i work with are quite skilled, work very hard, and are proud of what they do. As far as our salaries go… well at the -lowest- paid positions a new worker is making something like 68/70k a year. I talked to a recent hire who just graduated from the UW and he said he’s making more than any of his friends a year out of college.

  As far as our standing in the community goes it’s drilled into us as part of our “core values” that we are to be “stewards in our community.” Besides our donating to local West Seattle organizations we also are trained to do our best to reduce noise and to watch and for any condition that may be harmful to the environment.

  I am a pretty low level worker but i know all this because the company believes in complete transparency and our managers and supervisors are always talking to us about this stuff (check out the website). I know for a fact people from the neighborhood have come in on tours maybe you should call and ask for one and see what all the fuss is about. You might be surprised thar its not as evil place, just hard working people trying to making a living.

  Thanks for the space

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