Warren blast furnace coming down – again

WARREN

After a yearlong reprieve, the former Republic Steel/RG Steel blast furnace on Main Avenue Southwest, one of the most iconic structures in Trumbull County, is coming down – again.

Tara Cioffi of the Youngstown City Health Department, environmental health director for the Mahoning County Air Pollution Control Agency, said the owners of the blast furnace resumed demolition Aug. 2.

The work has been slow and steady since then. The work is noticeable up close but not from a distance.

The demolition began in June 2016 and was originally supposed to be finished by last November, but the company put the demolition on hold in August 2016.

This is the last blast furnace left in the Mahoning Valley. At one time, the Valley’s steel industry had dozens of them.

Cioffi said the demolition company, MCM Management of Michigan, indicated the demolition would be a deconstruction and not an implosion like blast-furnace demolitions of the past. She said she believes a slow deconstruction is still the company’s plan.

During summer 2016, MCM removed some of the asbestos in the blast furnace, but there is still additional asbestos to remove, Cioffi said.

Read more about the project in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.