Geneva Steel
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Geneva Steel was a steel mill located in Vineyard, Utah, founded during World War II to enhance national steel output. It operated from December 1944 to November 2001. Its unique name came from a resort that once operated nearby on the shore of Utah Lake.
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[edit] Construction
The Geneva Steel mill was constructed with federal funds from November 1941 to December 1944 by Columbia Steel Company and US Steel corporation. Vineyard, Utah, was chosen as the location for the new plant because iron ore, coal, limestone, and other resources necessary for primary steel making are located nearby; and because Vineyard is far inland, away from possible Japanese attack on the West Coast.
Geneva Steel operated as a US government facility until June 1946, when it was sold for $47.5 million to US Steel, a vast underbid compared to the mill's estimated $144 million value.
[edit] Operation
The plant was an integrated steel mill. Raw materials were shipped here by rail, processed into steel and steel products, and then reshipped by rail to their final market. The plant, in addition to having all of the facilities for primary steel making, included on-site conversion of coal into coke, plus other facilities for post processing of coal byproducts, including production of inorganic fertilizers. Blast furnaces converted raw iron ores into pig iron, and final conversion into steel was via open hearth furnaces. Rolling mill facilities for forming steel into plate, pipe, and some structural shapes were also located here.
[edit] Economic Importance and Continuing Viability
During its operation Geneva Steel was important to the Utah County economy, providing thousands of jobs and attracting many ancillary businesses to the area. As time went on, however, the distance from the plant to any major steel market, increasing labor costs, foreign imports, and the general decline of manufacturing industries in the USA contributed to the decay of the business.
Early in 1987 the mill shut down temporarily but reopened later after the mill was spun off from US Steel and purchased by local business interests. The Cannon Brothers bought the plant with the help of Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. They kept it open for the longest time possible. In March 1999 the company filed bankruptcy and reorganized with a $110 million loan via the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Act, but the reorganization attempt failed. Geneva Steel filed bankruptcy again and shut down permanently in November 2002.
[edit] Liquidation Deals
Liquidation of Geneva Steel's substantial assets is still ongoing and may have broad effects on Utah County's future development.
Geneva Steel's 1,750 acres (7 km²) of land were sold in November 2005 for $46.8 million to "Anderson Geneva, LLC", a sister company to Anderson Development, which plans to reuse the land for a wide range of purposes, including as a possible commuter rail corridor. The land must undergo environmental cleanups before any development can occur, with most of the cost paid for by US Steel. The mill equipment will not remain because it has been sold for $40 million to the Chinese firm Qingdao Iron & Steel Group.
Most of Geneva Steel's water rights were sold to the Central Utah Water Conservancy District in May 2005 for $88.5 million, with some additional water rights sold for $14 million to the private firm Summit Vineyard, LLC, which plans to use them to support a power plant. Its iron ore properties were sold for $10 million to Palladon Ventures Ltd, which hopes to build a new steel mill with modern technology closer to the iron ore mines.
Geneva Steel's 7,000 tons of emission reduction credits are also for sale. In January 2006, local citizens announced they were forming a group to attempt to purchase and retire those credits in order to maintain local air quality. The exact price of the credits will be determined by the open market, but estimates of the value of the emissions reduction credits range from $350,000 to $35,000,000.
[edit] The Site Today
Early in 2007, the site made headlines in the Utah press, as owner Anderson Geneva made an offer to Real Salt Lake. The deal included moving their stadium to the Geneva site and they, AG, would offer up the land for free. The offer was subsequently turned down.
[edit] Sources
"Judge approves sale of Geneva Steel land"
"Chinese firm gets OK to buy Geneva assets"
"Palladon Ventures Plans Steel Mill for Utah"
"Real Doesn’t Have to Leave Utah: Anderson Geneva Offers 33 acres of Land for Free in Utah County"
