by MARK REUTTER

The Sparrows Point blast furnace, under investigation for a fireball of smoke and debris three months ago, is acting erratically and releasing untreated pollutants into the atmosphere.

The mammoth, 300-foot-high L furnace has “slipped” as many as 30 times a week in the last month, a quantum leap above its historic level, according to company sources. Furnace slips not only pose a danger to employees and equipment, but they often cause the furnace to “blow its stacks” — discharging polluted gas that bypasses the furnace’s clean-air scrubber.

Why is this happening? According to angry insiders, cheaper raw materials ordered by company owners in Russia are to blame.

“It’s like eating bad food and getting sick,” explained a source. “The furnace slips are belches, and the gluck coming from the stacks is the furnace puking.”

Severstal’s response?

E-mails asking about the furnace situation sent last week to Sparrows Point plant manager Tom Russo and Severstal spokesperson Bette Kovach went unanswered.

In a Nov. 25 letter to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Severstal Sparrows Point strongly implied that L furnace was operating normally since a Sept. 29 slip caused a jet of hot gases to shower the plant with fist-sized chunks of debris. However, in its in-house newsletter for the same week, Severstal reported that L furnace “continued to struggle” with slips and gas discharges. (See text box below.)

MDE is weighing whether to press civil penalties against Severstal for the Sept. 29 explosion. Fines as high as $25,000 per violation can be assessed for equipment malfunctions and other temporary increases in emissions.

It is an open secret at Sparrows Point that “Big L” has experienced operational difficulties ever since it was reopened last February, after a four-month overhaul. The biggest problem of late stems from the decision by Severstal’s top executives in Russia to change the “diet” of the furnace.

What brings about a belch

Last September, Severstal ordered local management to make do with iron-bearing pellets and other low-cost raw materials to feed the furnace. In early October, the company closed down the “sintering” mill that processed high-grade iron ore. The pellets now charged into the furnace contain dirt and other contaminants that sometimes react badly in the 4,000 degree F furnace.

Metallurgically speaking, slips occur when raw materials (iron ore, limestone and coke) discharged from the top of the furnace “hang,” or stop moving downward in the hearth. When this happens, the material below the hang continues to move downward and forms a pocket that is quickly filled with hot gases under high pressure. When the hang finally collapses, the sudden downward thrust of thousands of tons of material forces the gases upward with the force of an explosion.

“They’re compromising . . . our jobs.”

To prevent damage to the furnace, pressure is relieved through bleeder stacks on top of the furnace. These gases are laden with carbon monoxide, iron dust, graphite, manganese, nitrogen and other pollutants.

The L furnace has one bleeder stack that releases “clean gas” (gas treated with a Bischoff scrubber) and three stacks that release untreated or “dirty gas.”

The recent furnace slips have caused both the clean-gas and dirty-gas stacks to open quite regularly, according to company sources.

The sources agreed that none of the recent slips was as severe as the Sept. 29 eruption whose thunderous roar could be heard for miles around the plant and which required Baltimore County firefighters to put out fires on the property caused by flaming debris.

In Dearborn: explosion cost millions, hurt worker

One source said many employees are disgusted that Severstal – based in Moscow and owned by Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov – has ordered the mill to work with inferior raw material.

“The lifeblood of this plant is the blast furnace, and they’re compromising their own investment – and our jobs – by using cheap stuff that doesn’t melt appropriately. Bethlehem Steel [a former plant owner] was very careful about what they put into L. They put in high-quality stuff, and the furnace ran good.”

Furnace explosions from hot gases, while rare, can cause extensive damage. On January 5, 2008, an accumulation of gas at Severstal’s B furnace at Dearborn, Mich., resulted in a blast that blew a hole in the furnace and injured a worker who was passing by in a van.

The explosion caused so much damage – $400 million, according to reinsurance company Guy Carpenter – that Severstal shifted production to a second blast furnace and has permanently shut B furnace.

If something similar happened to “Big L,” there is no backup furnace at Sparrows Point and ironmaking at the mill would cease.

Asked for comment, MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said in an e-mail: “Regarding the Sept. 29 incident, we have received information from the company. The matter is still under investigation. We are seeking more information.”

Mark Reutter can be reached at reuttermark@yahoo.com

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