Irish Steel Explained

Irish Steel Limited
Trade Name:Irish Steel
Native Name:Cruach na hÉireann Teoranta
Native Name Lang:ga
Type:Semi-state company
Industry:Steel production
Successor:Irish Ispat
Hq Location:Haulbowline, Cork Harbour
Hq Location Country:Ireland
Num Employees:450
Num Employees Year:2001

Irish Steel Limited (Irish: Cruach na hÉireann Teoranta),[1] later known as Irish Ispat Limited, was an Irish semi-state company which was involved in steel production primarily from a plant on Haulbowline island in Cork Harbour. Originally founded in 1939, the company and its assets were sold to Ispat International (for IR£1) in 1996. The company and its plant closed down in 2001.

Dumping of production materials, including toxic waste, resulted in significant contamination of the Irish Steel plant site, and increased the size of Haulbowline island by . Campaigners, including Erin Brockovich, pushed for action by the state,[2] [3] and €61m was allocated to clean-up the site and to redevelop it as a park.[4] [5] The cleanup and redevelopment project lasted upwards of a decade; from 2011 to 2021.[6]

History

Irish Steel was originally formed as a privately owned firm in 1939, and commenced operations from a steel plant on Haulbowline island, near Cobh in Cork Harbour.[7] [8] This company went into receivership in the 1940s,[8] and in 1947 the then Minister for Industry and Commerce, Seán Lemass, established a state-financed company to acquire its assets and "secure 240 jobs".[9] [10]

In 1960, the state's involvement was expanded by the "Irish Steel Holdings Limited Bill (1960)", in what Jack Lynch (by then Minister for Industry and Commerce) described as addressing a "gap which would otherwise exist in [Ireland's] industrial capacity".[10] By the late 1960s, Irish Steel was producing approximately one-third of steel used by Irish industry.[11] At its peak, in 1971, the company employed approximately 1,200 people and had increased production to run 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.[9] The 1981 "Industry (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order" transferred responsibility for Irish Steel from the Minister for Industry and Commerce to the Minister for Energy.[12]

In 1972, Edward A. Coleman (the general manager of Irish Steel and a member of a delegation from the Confederation of Irish Industry travelling for discussions with EEC officials in Brussels), was among those killed in the Staines air disaster.[13] [14]

A fall in steel prices in Europe during the 1980s led to layoffs at Irish Steel, and the work-force was progressively reduced from 650.[9] The assets of the company were sold to Irish Ispat (a subsidiary of Ispat International), for IR£1, in 1996.[15] Under the terms of the sale agreement, Ispat International operated the Haulbowline plant under the condition that "£30 million would be invested in the plant and its 330 jobs would be secured" for at least five years.[9] Shortly after this term ended in 2001, Ispat International announced the closure of the plant and the loss of 450 jobs.[16]

Controversy

Safety

According to a 2005 article in The Irish Times, "Irish Ispat's tenure at Haulbowline was marked by controversy, with the firm failing to invest" as expected under the negotiated takeover agreement.[9] There were several worker deaths between 1999 and 2001, including that of a lab technician who died in a fire.[9] According to an inquest hearing, the plant's administrative block had no sprinklers, fire escapes or fire alarms, and that the "company's fire engine failed to start because of a flat battery".[9] According to other reports, the plant's safety manager had been refused budget for improved fire-safety training.[17]

Closure

The plant was closed, with limited notice, by Ispat International in 2001.[18] At the time of closure, the company had debts of more than €57m.[17] [19] Reports of land and asset sales, prior to closure, led to some accusations of "asset-stripping" by the parent company.[20] One such asset disposal, in the months prior to closure, involved the sale of a 30-acre site (for an undisclosed sum) to build a hazardous waste incinerator to the "fury of local residents".[21] [22] As of 2002, creditors were still owed over €20m, including over €7m due to former-workers for statutory redundancy and other payments.[23]

Environmental impact

From at least the 1960s, waste materials (including toxic chemicals and steel slag) used in the steel production process were dumped by Irish Steel on the eastern part of Haulbowline island.[7] This dumping site became known as the "East Tip",[24] and was described in later reports as one of Ireland's "worst polluted former industrial sites".[25]

The "East Tip" expanded over several decades to include 650,000 cubic metres of waste, extending eastwards from Haulbowline's naval dockyard.[26] [27] The processing waste acted as approximately 22acres of land reclamation infill,[27] [28] [29] and the dumped materials reputedly increased Haulbowline island from approximately 60acres to over 80acres in size.[30] According to the terms of planning permission, received by Irish Steel in 1981, there were no controls placed on the material that could be dumped or on protections required to prevent leachate into the harbour.[31] By the time of the plant's closure in 2001, radioactive and Chromium 6 contamination was found to have remained in the island's soil.[32] [27] Campaigners, including Erin Brockovich,[33] [34] requested government action on the contamination issue.[3] [35]

As of 2011, it was reported that the contamination at the site had cost the state "more than €50 million — mostly in legal costs".[36] As of 2014, €52 million had been spent on clearing the site, with "a further €40 million [earmarked] to make the site safe".[37] While the Environmental Protection Agency had attributed €15.9m of the projected site cleanup costs to Irish Ispat (formerly Irish Steel), the High Court dismissed a claim by the state to have the company's liquidator cover the cost of making the site environmentally safe.[38] The Irish government was later threatened with legal action by the European Commission, for a failure to meet its obligations under the Waste Framework Directive.[39] In 2016, it was reported that the remediation works budget, of €61m, would not be sufficient to complete the full cleanup and redevelopment project.[5]

The cleanup and redevelopment of the former Irish Steel "East Tip" site took more than a decade to complete, between 2011 (when the work necessary to prepare a waste licence application was discussed) and 2021 (when the site was opened as a park).[6] Haulbowline Island Amenity Park was officially opened in January 2021.[40] [41]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: An tAcht um Ghabháltais Chruach na hÉireann Teoranta (Leasú), 1979 . Houses of the Oireachtas . acts.ie . 4 June 2021 . Irish . ciallaíonn 'an Chuideachta' Cruach na hÉireann Teoranta .
  2. Web site: Brockovich backs Cork residents over waste fears . Irish Times . irishtimes.com . 1 July 2008 . 6 June 2021 .
  3. Web site: Environmental campaigners concerned over Haulbowline Island clean-up . Irish Times . irishtimes.com. 10 May 2018 . 6 June 2021 .
  4. Web site: €61m clean-up of Haulbowline Island behind target and spending . Irish Times . irishtimes.com . 9 May 2018 . 3 June 2021 .
  5. Web site: €61m for Haulbowline 'not enough' to convert old steel plant to public amenity . Irish Examiner . irishexaminer.com . 26 August 2016 . 4 June 2021 .
  6. Web site: Haulbowline Island Remediation Project . Cork County Council . corkcoco.ie . 3 June 2021 . The Latest News section of this website provides an outline of the various project milestones .
  7. Web site: Pictures: A look back at the opening of Irish Steel in Cork Harbour. 23 January 2021. echolive.ie . The Echo .
  8. Web site: 'This has all been a hush hush job' . irishexaminer.com . Irish Examiner . 26 June 2008 . The Cork Harbour steel plant got up and running in August 1939 as Irish Steel Ltd. Seven years later, the privately owned firm went into receivership. In 1947 the government of the day took over the company's assets .
  9. Web site: Plant's 62 years spanned boom and bust as economy evolved. The Irish Times . irishtimes.com . 22 August 2005 .
  10. Web site: Irish Steel Limited Bill, 1996 [Seanad]

    Second Stage. – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Wednesday, 3 Apr 1996 – Houses of the Oireachtas]

    . Houses of the Oireachtas. 3 April 1996. oireachtas.ie.
  11. Irish Geography . 6 . 1 . 1969 . The Irish Steel Industry . Desmond A. . Gillmor . 84 . 10.1080/00750776909555649 . About one-third of the steel requirements of the Republic of Ireland is home-producted [..by..] Irish Steel Holdings Limited .
  12. Web site: S.I. No. 288/1981 – Industry (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1981 . electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB) . irishstatutebook.ie . 3 June 2021 .
  13. Web site: 1972 Staines air crash recalled . Irish Times . irishtimes.com . 18 June 1997 . 4 June 2021 .
  14. Air Disaster . Newsletter Magazine of Irish Shipping Ltd . 10 . 1 . 1972 . 3 . In a tragic air crash at Heathrow [..] twelve prominent Irishmen in the industrial and commercial life of the country lost their lives. Those involved were [..] Mr. Edward Coleman, General Manager, Irish Steel Holdings [..] The group was on a trip to Brussels for talks in connection with Ireland's entry into the E.E.C.
  15. Web site: New name as Irish Steel sold for £1. The Irish Times . irishtimes.com . 31 May 1996 .
  16. Web site: Announcement 'imminent' on use of Irish Steel site. Sean. O’Riordan. 15 June 2011. Irish Examiner .
  17. Web site: Ispat told of risk but ignored fire funds plea. Niall. Murray. 25 July 2002. Irish Examiner.
  18. Book: Cold Steel: Lakshmi Mittal and the Multi-Billion-Dollar Battle for a Global Empire . Tim . Bouquet . Byron . Ousey . Hachette . 2009. 9780748111763 . In 2001 he [Lakshmi Mittal] pulled out of the former Irish Steel Haulbowline plant in Cork, which he had bought five years before for £IR1, at a few hours' notice, leaving behind debts of over €57 million and four hundred people jobless [..] the unions criticised Mittal for his instant exit .
  19. News: Liquidator put into Ispat as angry creditors meet. Dick. Hogan. The Irish Times . 29 June 2001 .
  20. Web site: Steel plant stripped of assets before closedown. independent.ie . Independent News & Media . 31 March 2002 .
  21. Web site: Cork incinerator approval is just the latest chapter in a long running saga . Irish Times . irishtimes.com . 31 May 2018 . 4 June 2021 .
  22. Web site: £20m Cork landbank originally bought for £1 . Independent News & Media . Sunday Independent . 17 June 2001 . 4 June 2021 . Irish Ispat have already been involved in a bitter clash with the Government over plans to sell-off much of the land formerly controlled by Irish Steel [..] Ispat sold a 30 acre site to the Belgian firm Indaver for their proposed £75 million waste incinerator to the fury of local residents .
  23. Web site: Irish Ispat 'breached terms of deal'. independent.ie . Independent News & Media . 3 March 2002 .
  24. Web site: Haulbowline Island East Tip Remediation Project . RPS. rpsgroup.com . 3 June 2021 .
  25. Web site: 'Premature to open park' on polluted Haulbowline site . Irish Examiner . irishexaminer.com . 15 May 2019 . 3 June 2021 .
  26. Web site: Haulbowline Island East Tip Remediation Works Completed . Afloat Magazine . 14 December 2018 .
  27. Web site: East Tip, Haulbowline Island – Factual Report . Cork County Council . March 2012 . 3 June 2021 .
  28. Web site: EastTip Remediation Project, Haulbowline, Co Cork – Volume 2 – Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) . Environmental Protection Agency . epa.ie . October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171117100241/http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2804bf678.pdf . 17 November 2017 . The East Tip is an area of land, approximately 9 hectares in size, reclaimed from the sea by infilling with waste and by-products from the former Ispat steelworks.
  29. Inspector's Report – East Tip Remediation Project . 3 . . Davis . Philip . 18 March 2014 . [The] East Tip [..] is a bare expanse area of reclaimed land on the east side of Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour [..] given as nine hectares [..] formed from waste from the steelworks .
  30. Web site: Your Town – Cork Harbour: Haulbowline Island . Passage West Town Council . https://web.archive.org/web/20071118185854/http://www.passagewestmonkstown.ie/haulbowline-island.asp . 18 November 2007 . When the dockyard was being built, a further 30 acres of ground was reclaimed, bringing the total area of the island to about 60 acres [..] dumping of process slag from the steel works at Haulbowline has increased the area of the island to over 80 acres.
  31. Web site: State sold Haulbowline steel plant on the basis it was not polluted . irishtimes.com . Irish Times . 14 July 2008 .
  32. News: Residents alarmed over toxic dump at former steel mills . 27 June 2008 . Irish Independent . independent.ie.
  33. News: Campaign star Erin falls ill on Irish visit . Herald.ie . 22 September 2008 .
  34. Web site: Former Cork toxic dump resembling a 'lunar landscape' transformed into park . Irish Examiner . irishexaminer.com . 14 December 2018 . 6 June 2021 . campaigner Erin Brokovich was among those who called for the site to be cleaned .
  35. News: Get answers about toxic waste, Brockovich urges . Irish Independent . 1 July 2008.
  36. Web site: Ireland faces EU fines over toxic dump site. Ann. Cahill. 14 April 2011. Irish Examiner.
  37. Web site: Hearing into plans for former steel plant in Cork Harbour . RTÉ . rte.ie . 19 March 2014 . 4 June 2021 .
  38. Web site: State loses court case over Irish Ispat site costs . Irish Times . irishtimes.com . 29 July 2004 . 3 June 2021 .
  39. News: Haulbowline clean-up will not include all dumps. Tim. O'Brien. The Irish Times . 22 October 2012.
  40. Web site: Haulbowline Island Amenity Park to open this Friday . echolive.ie . 14 January 2021 . 3 June 2021 .
  41. Web site: Award winning public park opens on former toxic dump – Haulbowline Island, Cork Harbour . thecork.ie . 15 January 2021 . 3 June 2021 .

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