Granite City steel contract workers taken to hospital shortly after Trump visit

Two Granite City steel mill contract workers were exposed to carbon monoxide and taken to the hospital hours after President Donald Trump toured the facility.

A U.S. Steel spokesperson told KMOV that two contractors were working on the mill’s blast furnace “A,” which was offline as Thursday, when they were exposed. The two people were taken to the hospital and 10 other people were cleared by emergency medical crews at the plant.

“Safety remains a priority for U.S. Steel as we continue to investigate the incident,” a U.S. Steel spokesperson said in a statement to KMOV.

The Granite City mill is owned by Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. It recently restarted one blast furnace after the Trump administration announced the tariffs.

President Donald Trump visited Granite City on Thursday to tout the hundreds of jobs that have been brought back to a reopened steel mill — and to push back against criticism that his escalating trade disputes are hurting American workers and farmers.

Restarting the furnace brought back 500 jobs — jobs that have been deeply missed in the city of roughly 28,000 nestled in an industrial corridor along the Mississippi River. More than 2,000 employees were laid off in 2015. The company promised an additional 300 by October, when it plans to fire up a second blaster.

This story was originally published July 27, 2018 at 6:37 AM.