Hepenstall Steel in Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh ,Reliance Steel Products in Mckeesport and Walworth Valve in Greensburg all torn down and redeveloped or in the process of being so.
3 power houses in there time and all 3 run into the ground and finished off by labor strife and pressure from cheap imports.
Here is a list of mills and steel related business in Pittsburgh 98% of them now gone
Walworth Valve was located along US 119 & US 30 in Greensburg Pa. and produced all types of valves from small plumbing valves for water to very large industrial valves to control steam I was there for just one evening with 3 other guards after the company announced it was going to close and move to Mexico . There where threats to management and the plant and we where hired to keep an eye on things till it was settled . The plant it self was in poor condition some of the machinery actually sitting out semi exposed to the weather you could see no money was put back into this place to keep it operating roofs where sagging and had major leaks when it rained and with in a year of its closing the plant was torn down before it fell after a fire and has been replaced by a shopping plaza if you rode by today there are no traces the plant ever existed.
A couple of the workmen I talked to in the morning as the plant was starting up for one of its last shifts told me he could not see them closing the plant as no one could produce valves of the quality they produced there. He was right the valves they now make are no where near the quality they once made and at this point I do not know that Walworth even exists I do not see the name on valves on jobs any more.
Reliance Steel Products in Mckeesport was located along Walnut St. and made steel grate for cat walks once again labor problems where always a problem here and once again a plant which was totally run down and not kept current so it could not compete when cheap imports hit the US . The plant had a set of open running compressors for air to the plants machine which I saw in 60's as a kid in the Henry Ford museum the place was over run with mice and there where mouse holes chewed in office walls every where in one weekend of shifts I caught 12 mice in traps once again the roof leaked and sagged doors did not close properly and sooner or later this building was going to fall in on itself but they ran it into the ground and did not care.It was hazardous to even walk around the place you always had to be careful for stuff blocking aisles and sharp objects sticking out what a hell hole even the detex watchman's clock you pushed into a station instead of taking out a key and turning it which hung on the wall did not work we where suppose to carry . After it closed it sat empty for several years had a couple of fires was used by Steffen Industries for a while and was finally torn down and replaced by a Rite Aide Pharmacy you would have no ideal this place ever existed if you passed it. many of the other business along Walnut Street also closed up and where torn down as well over the years riding up Walnut Street today I do not recognize it as the street I once walked up in 1979 while
going to trade school.
http://www.tubecityonline.com/almanac/entry_1416.php
Article I wrote for GKO on mills in 90's
Hepenstall Steel was a proud plant which ran for several blocks and comprised 20 some buildings
in the Lawrenceville Section of Pittsburgh From 43rd to 48th street . However there was a deadly secret to this place I would not realize till many years after guarding it.
When I first started working the details we had 4 guards and walked 2 at a time thru this massive complex which for the most part had no lighting as it had its own power house to produce lighting and it had been turned off when the closed this place we where mainly there to prevent theft and damage to the place till they could clean it out which took a couple of years.
It took almost 2 hours to walk all around this place and check the buildings and only 1 phone at the guards office dialed to the outside the rest had been turned off or only worked inside the plant.as dark and spooky as this assignment was we luckily never had any problems as the spooky place kept vandals etc at bay. Where we sat we could watch the street and this was the main employee entrance and locker rooms next to us as well as an ambulance which was an International suburban type vehicle with no life saving gear just first aid kit and oxygen which the original plant guards who where all laid off guards would use to transport injured workers to St Margret's hospital as fast as they could . There where no Paramedics in Pittsburgh till well into late 70's . I remember several times as a kid while we took my dad to work watching the ambulance for J&L Steel which became LTV racing across the Brady street bridge to the now closed South Side Hospital My dad was seriously burned at J&L when a Westinghouse electrical switch blew up on him. and got a ride in that ambulance one time.
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| Guard station entrance was at small building to left of peaked building on left with big H on it this was also employee main entrance |
Well it was time to start our tour the first steel building we went into was approx 300 by 100 foot with 65 foot ceilings and had some of the largest overhead crane's and machine lathes I had ever seen the machines where big enough they could turn a boat shaft in them this is one of the few buildings with light It also contained a unique machine liberated from the Nazis after WWII which cut gun barrels the opposite direction of American made machines. We then went out into a giant storage yard with a big gantry type crane That you would run into an occasional ground hog or possum chasing dinner thru the piles of steel .We then went to the power house which had no lights you had to walk up steep grated steeps to 2nd level and check around the generators and then back down those same steps at first they had a single bare bulb to see but after it burned out it was never fixed I always made sure I had 2 flashlights I carried to see in case one went out on this job 1 a large Britestar multi D cell light and a smaller 2- D cell one in my back pocket. Maglites where available then but where way too expensive to purchase for average guard about $75.00 and you could only get them at uniform stores not like you can pick them up for under $20.00 now .
After the powerhouse then down thru the long forge area building with all its now closed and dark furnaces and constant trip hazards to avoid and roof leaks and ice when it rained or was cold they even had a small little train which pulled ingots thru the plant in this area . You would get an occasional scare when a cat or other animal would go running when you walked thru the buildings . Then a tour thru several small buildings only one of which had lights and a phone which you could call the guard shack with not the outside and there was no 911 back then you had to call 255-2935 for city police . You then walked down thru the other side of the forge building which was filled with gigantic milling machines and table lathes constantly avoiding hazards and thou the buildings where old they had kept them in half decent shape after this building you walked across the street and had 2 office buildings you checked we did them for only couple weeks till they where sold off. eventually went down to 2 guards and you walked by your self as other guard stayed at office and then you where the only guard on the shift and you called in after every tour you made so they knew you where OK but it was 2 hours before you checked in and they would then call and if you did not answer would they get hold of a supervisor to come check on you. Not a very safe situation.
We where not supposed to carry weapons on the job but with this place I carried a can of mace and always had that big flash light handy in case of a problem which luckily never happened. Maurice D. did not like I had the mace and like I told him go fuck your self lets see you walk around this place all night by your self. I also carried a whistle I figured if I fell at least I could blow it and hopefully some one would here it. I still carry a bobby whistle as I often work by myself on some construction jobs .
Ironically I would once again get to see Hepenstall in the late 80's at that point the now defunct Tippens Company had bought the place and was using it to store parts and machines they rebuilt for steel mills. I was called down to give them a price to secure the main building from burglars as they had several major thefts . they never did put an alarm in and this was just one of many missteps they made as a
company which lead to there sell off and closure .
Some pictures of the plant buildings I walked thru at Hepenstall even back then there where piles of bricks from ovens lying everywhere .
But it was in 2008 a year after getting Stage IV Colon cancer which was eye opening when I opened the evening paper to find out Hepenstall was one of several places I worked as a Guard which was identified as by the EPA with Beryllium contamination from all the milling shavings as it was used to strengthen steel and was a known carcinogen and I walked thru many of those shavings which where never properly cleaned up in the place. Could it have been a factor in causing my cancer could well be along with all the other stuff I was exposed to on Neville island and other shit holes I worked. But I can tell you this much many of the other guards I worked with developed cancers as well as the plant workers you occasionally ran into on the streets . Before tough OSHA and EPA regulations Pittsburgh was one big cesspool of cancer and still is in many cases there is no avoiding it
its in the water and air and may well be why so many mentally ill people and so many rampaging homicidal maniacs have been developed around here. we will never know as most of it was totally and completely covered up and those responsible now dead.
One common denominator to all 3 mills...Closed To Labor Strife. Thank you unions for the decline of West Penn.
ReplyDeleteSo True there where constant strikes etc at these plants
ReplyDelete