FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2003 file photo, heavy machinery rolls through the U.S Steel Corp. Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock, Pa., east of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. said Friday, April 30, 2021, that it is canceling a $1.5 billion project to bring state-of-the-art improvements to its operations in western Pennsylvania, saying the world has changed in the two years since it announced its intentions. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2003 file photo, heavy machinery rolls through the U.S Steel Corp. Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock, Pa., east of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. said Friday, April 30, 2021, that it is canceling a $1.5 billion project to bring state-of-the-art improvements to its operations in western Pennsylvania, saying the world has changed in the two years since it announced its intentions. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
(Harrisburg) — Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. said Friday that it is canceling a $1.5 billion project to bring a state-of-the-art improvement to its Mon Valley Works operations in western Pennsylvania, saying the world has changed in the two years since it announced its intentions.
The project permits were stalled by the pandemic, a steelmaker in another state will be ready with a new plant sooner and U.S. Steel must shift its focus now to its weeks-old goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from its facilities by 2050, it said.
U.S. Steel revealed the news in an earnings call Friday morning and on social media. It also said it will shut down Batteries 1, 2 and 3 at its Clairton Plant by early 2023 to help reduce polluting emissions.
“The world is changing rapidly and we’re on the ten-yard line with 90 yards ahead of us,” David Burritt, the company’s president and CEO, said in the letter.
The plan had been to improve its steelmaking efficiency and reduce emissions at its Mon Valley Works operations.
It will mean the loss of approximately 1,000 full-time union construction jobs and a longer-term threat to 3,000 steel workers, said Tom Melcher, business manager for the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council.
U.S. Steel said it is still committed to steelmaking in western Pennsylvania.
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