Acme Metals, Inc.
Acme Metals, Inc. arrived in Riverdale, Illinois in 1918. The company relocated to the town because it needed extra space. It purchased land along the Calumet River and by 1929 employed over 1,000 people.
The company later split into two separate units, one devoted to making steel and one devoted to manufacturing steel products. the latter was primarily strips and sheets of flat-rolled steel.
In 1994, the company announced plans to sell $100 million dollars worth of securities to finance a planned $300 million thin-slab caster and hot-strip mill in its facility. The securities were not registered under U.S. laws and were to be for private sale exclusively in Canada. In 1996, the caster and hot-strip mill began operation.
Acme Metals declared bankruptcy in 1998, a move that was blamed on the large quantities of cheaper foreign steel that were allowed to be imported by NAFTA regulations. As part of bankruptcy proceedings, the company sold a wholly owned subsidiary, Alpha Tube Corp. to AK Steel of Middletown, Ohio.
Acme Metals closed in 2001. The following year, the mill was purchased by a Cleveland company called International Steel Group (ISG) for $65 million. This was considered a bargain price for ISG, as constructing a new facility from scratch would have cost in the neighborhood of $350 million. ISG had also purchased the bankrupt giant Bethlehem Steel shortly before this.
ISG planned to use the former Acme Metals plant to supply raw steel for a finishing mill that ISG owned elsewhere. Most of the employees who were laid off the previous year when Acme closed were expected to be hired back. Within three months after the purchase of the former Acme property, ISG had come to a contract agreement with the United Steelworkers of America. A hungry market for steel in China at the time was a factor in the once-again strong American steel industry.
In 2002, a former division of Acme Steel called Acme Packaging Corp. came out of bankruptcy as an independent company.
Workers employed at Acme Metals included machine operators, furnace operators, welders, pourers, casters, and inspectors. These workers were at risk of dangerous exposure to asbestos fibers through the safety clothing they wore to protect them from life-threatening burns from hot molten liquid. Coats, gloves, masks, aprons, and leggings were all made from asbestos due to its fireproof and flame-resistant properties.
In addition, many other materials in the plant may have been made out of asbestos or insulated with asbestos, including pipes, boilers, ovens, and other items. Workers were at risk of developing lung diseases like mesothelioma through exposure to asbestos. This is especially true prior to the 1970s, when the dangers of asbestos became more widely known and workers were given warnings.
Last modified: December 12 2007.
