WARREN - The Warren Coke Plant is undergoing an extensive upgrade, characterized by company officials as a "capital investment'' to the oven that will guarantee its life for decades to come.
Work to rebuild the coke oven battery through repairs to the refractory, or lining, and its mechanical components at the ArcelorMittal Coke Plant on the city's south side should extend the life of the battery by 25 to 30 years.
A company official in Richfield said Wednesday that the coke oven battery was commissioned in 1979 and certain areas of it have reached their useful life. The project is under way, with the local facility mobilizing contractors conducting safety trainings and beginning demolition work to prepare for the new refractory.
The company did not release a dollar figure on the project.
The spokeswoman said the project also will sustain ArcelorMittal Warren's environmental performance, which is subject to U.S. EPA's stringent Coke Oven Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards.
The project will require use of approximately 80 additional contractors including bricklayers, safety advocates and steelworkers.
ArcelorMittal Warren has 150 employees and an annual capacity of approximately 550,000 tons of coke which is currently supplied to ArcelorMittal's integrated steel facility in Cleveland.
ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company, operating in 60 countries and employing about 260,000 people worldwide.
The company has operated the Warren plant since 2005 when it acquired International Steel Group Inc., which had previously operated the Warren plant.
Trumbull County Building Department officials had no record of building permits for the project on file yet.