Lockport, NY: 1911 Guterl/Wallace-Murray/Simonds Saw & Steel

(Satellite)

USACE
The full title of these notes should be: ((ATI Specialty/Allegheny Ludlum Steel) + Federal Government)/Guterl/Wallace-Murray/Simonds Saw & Steel.

“Records indicate that between 25 million and 35 million pounds of uranium, and 30,000 to 40,000 pounds of thorium may have been processed at this facility. Contract activities with AEC ended sometime in the 1957-58 period. As part of contract termination, a large-scale facility decontamination was required to have been performed, but it is unclear whether it was ever performed. A 1976 ORNL survey of the facility identified alpha contamination was within “acceptable” limits, but beta-gamma radiation “...in some areas exceeded the maximum allowable for unrestricted use specified in NRC guidelines.”” 

An Allegheny spokesman said the company purchased the location in 1984 but didn't take possession of the entire site. In its pre-purchase review, Allegheny discovered that nuclear work had been done there. On a tour of the site with detection equipment, one company examiner started getting low-level radioactivity readings, he said. While there were no government restrictions on the use of the site, Allegheny didn't want any future liability that might come from a site with radioactive contamination, he said. That portion of the site went to the federal government. The spokesman added that the company satisfied itself that there was no radioactive contamination on the other portion of the site, which is home to an Allegheny plant that processes specialty alloys.

[wsj]

Street View, Jun 2021

The raised rails for an overhead crane are peaking through the trees on the left.

Street View, Jun 2021

riddimryder, one of many Aug 2019 interior photos
"The plant dates back to the early 1900`s when operations moved from Chicago to Lockport where the plant would be powered cheap electricity being produced by nearby Niagara Falls.  The first steel produced at the new plant was in January of 1911.  11 years later the company changed its name to Simonds Saw and Steel Company & had approximately 2,200 employees.  After just 25 years they stopped producing saws all together."
The radioactive metals were processed on a 9-acre portion of the 70-acre site.
"During all operations from 1948 through 1956, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was responsible for providing radiological monitoring & safety guidance and assistance. Residue from the operation was returned to the AEC or NLO. The DOE’s Niagara Falls Storage Site (formerly Lake Ontario Ordnance Works) was used for interim storage of the materials between processing operations and use. Protective measures employed at the site included the use of hoods & dust collection equipment over the 16-inch rolling mill stands, & catch pans in the mill pits to collect material from each rolling operation. The mill area was vacuumed after every batch of 16 ingots, & the shipping area was vacuumed daily."

Matt Celeste posted eight photos with the comment: "Simonds Saw and Steel (Lockport, NY), operated from 1911 to 1965, when it was purchased by Wallace-Murray until 1978 when the Guterl Special Steel Corporation bought the mill and took over operations. After filing for bankruptcy in 1983, Guterl closed the mill and in 1984, a portion of the mill was purchased by the Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation. Ever since, the unused portion of the mill has been sitting vacant, decaying and contaminated, as well as radioactive. While in operation, the mill utilized Ajax induction furnaces to produce molten steel. (Photos taken 1/6/23)"

Jim Dunn: Nucor Darlington tried Ajax induction furnaces. The refractory would not hold up. One of them washed out. They shut them down and got rid of them.

James Torgeson: Served by the Erie, Erie Lackawanna, and later Conrail.

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Dennis DeBruler commented on James' comment
According to a topo map, it was served by the NYC.
1950 Lockport Quad @ 24,000

 

Matt Celeste commented on Dennis' comment
New York Central was a seperate line that was north of Simonds. An Erie line ran from North Tonawanda to Lockport and went right past the mill.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Matt's comment

Abandoned Buffalo, NY posted 16 photos with the comment:

Abandoned Guterl Specialty Steel/Simonds Saw & Steel. A long forgotten local steel mill in WNY. A brief history: The plant dates back to the early 1900`s when operations moved from Chicago to Lockport where the plant would be powered cheap electricity being produced by nearby Niagara Falls.  The first steel produced at the new plant was in January of 1911.  11 years later the company changed its name to Simonds Saw and Steel Company & had approximately 2,200 employees.  After just 25 years they stopped producing saws all together.

Between 1946 & 1956 the plant rolled two radioactive materials, uranium & thorium, on a nine-acre portion of the 70-acre site for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The company rolled uranium billets into rods that were shipped off-site via rail cars. Some 25 million & 35 million pounds of natural uranium metal & approximately 30,000 to 40,000 of thorium metal were processed at the site, according to an Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) fact sheet.

The production of uranium metal for fabrication into slugs for fueling Hanford production reactors. Simonds also rolled thorium metal whose most likely use was irradiation in Hanford reactors for the weapons program.

During all operations from 1948 through 1956, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was responsible for providing radiological monitoring & safety guidance and assistance. Residue from the operation was returned to the AEC or NLO. The DOE’s Niagara Falls Storage Site (formerly Lake Ontario Ordnance Works) was used for interim storage of the materials between processing operations and use. Protective measures employed at the site included the use of hoods & dust collection equipment over the 16-inch rolling mill stands, & catch pans in the mill pits to collect material from each rolling operation. The mill area was vacuumed after every batch of 16 ingots, & the shipping area was vacuumed daily.

Area decontamination was performed, clean steel plates placed over the area, and a second radiological survey was performed in December 1958 to verify decontamination was effective. In October 1976, at the request of DOE Headquarters, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) performed another radiological survey to determine the status of the property relative to current radiological release guidelines. The ORNL survey revealed that most of the residual contamination remaining from the uranium and thorium rolling operations was confined to the areas inside & immediately outside of Buildings 6 & 8.

In August 1982, GSSC filed for Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) protection & in March 1984 Allegheny International (now known as Allegheny Ludlum Corporation) bought out the assets of the GSSC. The purchase by Allegheny Ludlum Corporation included the entire site with the exception of two regions, classified as the excised property and the landfill. The excised property is approximately 3.6 hectares (ha [ 9 acres]), consists of a chain-link fenced area which surrounds all of the buildings that existed during the rolling operations from 1948 through 1956, and includes the adjacent exterior land areas. The landfill region was originally owned and used by Simonds Saw & Steel Company from 1962 to 1978, and was subsequently owned and used by GSSC from 1978 to 1980. The landfill area was used for the disposal of slag, baghouse flue dust, foundry sand, waste oils and greases, and miscellaneous plant rubbish. The landfill is not lined or covered, and although its surface has been regraded, ponding occurs and surface runoff is uncontrolled. The landfill region is currently a New York State superfund site.

Since 2012, ACE has been monitoring the groundwater below the site, groundwater seeping into the Erie Canal and canal surface water. Since the groundwater there is not potable, the ACE stated, there is no risk to human health.  Although some groundwater seeps into the Erie Canal have shown uranium levels slightly exceeding the (maximum contaminant levels, the uranium would be significantly diluted by waters of the canal,” reads the ACE fact sheet. “Even at that undiluted level, it should not have an adverse impact to someone using the water for recreational (not drinking water) purposes.  Although, potential lifetime cancer risks & yearly radiological dose rates received by someone trespassing in Building 8 (for 4 hours a week for 6 months out of the year for 10 years) could exceed acceptable targets, the actual radiological doses received by the Corps & contractor investigators in that building were below health and safety monitoring detection limits,” an ACE fact sheet said.

Today the plant sits rotting away & in terrible shape.  Fences have fallen down & it`s not uncommon to see several deer while on the grounds & even inside the buildings.  There are numerous class actions for former workers to receive compensation for both asbestos & radiation related diseases & although the plant is contaminated, it posed no risk to my health.   There are plans to cleanup the site sometime starting in 2020.  

Source: RiddimRyder Photography

Michael Neffke shared

Joshua Ames shared

Deanna Donelson shared

Brian R. Wroblewski: They're nuts to go in there. That place glows in the dark.

"No threat to my health"....yeah, ok, right. A nuclear radiation hazardous area thats literally falling apart around you is no risk? Breath deep & don't get hit by a falling piece of sheet metal...

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Abandoned Buffalo, NY posted 20 photos with the comment: "Abandoned Guterl Specialty Steel/Simonds Saw & Steel in Lockport NY. Part 2 of 2 ( be sure to check out part 1 [above], because 1 always comes before 2)"

Mike Woj: The rollers, dies and presses that are still there are radioactive. I know this site well. It is a FUSRAP site, well documented what is there.

Uranium-235 has a half life of 703,800,000 years. Thorium-232 14-Billion year half life.

The plan is to demolish the buildings and remove 18-24 inches of soil. The extent of the contamination is not completely known. It could be worse.

Dave Lamb: We brought a counter in there recently and the inside was lower than background. They did a good job cleaning up.

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zzz

Bubba Dubs commented on Deanna's share

Bubba Dubs commented on Deanna's share

The feds finally have a plan to clean up the site. I've seen a cost figure of $206m.

In addition to radiation, the employees were exposed to asbestos.

Asbestos-containing refractory and insulating materials were used in the production process at Simonds. Workers who handled asbestos-containing materials, or those who were in the vicinity of those workers who did, are at risk for developing mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases.

In the melting and casting departments at Simonds Saw and Steel, Ajax induction furnaces were used to produce molten steel. Laborers who operated these furnaces wore asbestos mitts to protect their hands from the high temperatures involved in steel making. On a regular basis, these furnaces were broken down with air hammers and rebuilt to replace the refractory linings. This ensured that the molten metal could not touch the heating coils. Layers of asbestos paper were incorporated into the refractory material. When the furnaces were dismantled, the asbestos paper was torn apart by the air hammer, which released clouds of asbestos-containing dust into the air. As the furnaces were rebuilt, new linings of asbestos paper were cut and put into place, which also caused asbestos fibers to become airborne.

When molten steel was heated to a high temperature, it was poured into an ingot mold to cool and take a shape that could be more easily handled. As the molten steel cooled and hardened, any impurities contained within the steel rose to the top of the mold. In order to increase efficiency and decrease waste, a cast iron device called a hot top was placed on top of the mold to trap these impurities. Due to the high temperature of molten steel, the interior of the hot top was lined with refractory materials. At Simonds Saw and Steel, asbestos-containing refractory mortar was used to protect the hot tops from heat damage. This refractory mortar was replaced before every use. In order to make the mortar, a dry mix was poured into a tub or bucket, and mixed with water. As this dry mix was poured and mixed with water, asbestos fibers were released into the air. Anyone who was in the vicinity of the pouring and mixing could have been exposed to asbestos. Additionally, the hot tops at Simonds were wrapped with asbestos rope to ensure a good seal with the ingot mold. Handling, cutting or disturbing this rope caused asbestos dust to become airborne. After the steel ingot had hardened sufficiently, the hot top was removed and the remnants of the refractory material and asbestos rope were blown out with an air hose, which emitted more asbestos fibers into the atmosphere.

[LipsitzPonterior]

19 photos