If Granite City loses steelmaking jobs, this is public officials’ back-up plan
Legislators continue asking United States Steel to rethink its plan to stop making steel in Granite City, which would cost the city nearly 1,000 jobs. But what if U.S. Steel leaves despite their urging?
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, and Granite City Mayor Mike Parkinson said Monday they have a back-up plan that involves courting businesses to bring new jobs to the steel town.
“We’re in this fight together, and we’ll do what we can until the bitter end, win or lose,” Parkinson said. “But either way, we’re going to work together to make Granite City survive.”
Duckworth said she recently talked to LG, which makes electronics and appliances, about its interest in coming to southwestern Illinois because of the proximity to the Mississippi River and because of the state’s energy offerings. LG is a South Korean company.
Parkinson said he and Duckworth have also discussed a way to make space for business development.
“One of the other things that the Senator and I discussed as well is holding U.S. Steel accountable if they do pull the jobs out of this region — holding them accountable for cleaning up the site where they’ve manufactured steel for so many years and returning that to (land) that we could actually bring new life to and new business to,” Parkinson said.
When asked how officials could enforce the clean-up, Parkinson said, “I think we’re going to have serious conversations about EPA violations and those things as we move forward.”
This summer, United States Steel announced plans to stop making steel at the plant and sell two blast furnaces to SunCoke Energy Inc., a raw materials handling company.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 7:09 AM.
