We helped design the water treatment systems for many plants and manufacturers over the years.  Not just across the US, but around the world.  Producing water that was never to be discharged from the facility yet would still met the needs of the process.

It was a way of reducing effluent (some plants had limited capabilities to discharge), saving money (processing the water to the need required was cheaper than purchasing water from the local authority), or removing the facility from government oversight (since no discharge was effected).   While our designs may have been sophisticated, what we were doing had been conceived long ago.

Way back in the late 1940’s, Bethlehem Steel had created a problem in Baltimore.  It had been withdrawing water from groundwater sources- but those sources were being rapidly depleting, leaving the citizenry short of water supply.

The plant was already using some sea water for cooling applications, but that source would never do for the steel production.  So, it began recycling water, using the same water over and over again, treating it (just enough) to meet the needs for its process water.  At its peak, Bethlehem Steel employed some 30000 union workers at the facility, while reusing the water to stay in production.

Eventually, Bethlehem Steel abandoned the Sparrows Point production facility.   Other firms attempted operations, but they all ceased in 2012.  (This also left an environmental nightmare.)

So, I was very surprised the other day, when I read that US Wind (a subsidiary of the Italian based Renexia SPA) plans to bring steel production back to the Sparrows Point facility.  They also plan to expand it into a logistics and distribution center, and expand the port facilities at the location.   Employment would expand from 500 producing the steel to some 3500 additional folks for the logistics center.

It seems that USWind plans to build a slew of wind turbines to harvest energy in US waters.  The goal is to produce the towers that secure the turbines (called monopiles) to the ocean floor at this facility.  (They will be joining another firm operating at the site- Orsted US Offshore Wind, the of which is used to supply their Skipjack Wind Farm.)

USWind has the lease rights to some 80000 acres about 13 miles offshore from Ocean City (MD).  They plan to install some 22 turbines at this location, generating some 270 megawatts of power (enough for 80,000 homes) by 2025.   But, that’s just the first phase of the project.  By 2028, they anticipate 82 turbines will be running, developing some 1200 megawatts of power.

Not only will this be good for our power needs, but for those skilled union jobs being resurrected at the site.

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