BREAKING: Pipe collapse at coke-making plant results in river spill

An early-morning collapse Saturday of utilities piping at Algoma Steel's coke-making plant has interrupted coke production and resulted in abnormal air emissions and discharge of effluent into the St. Marys River.

A 4:02 p.m. statement from the steelmaker reports that no one was injured and aside from coke-making, all other operations at the steel mill are not affected.

The company released the following statement:

Algoma Steel Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTL; TSX: ASTL)  a leading Canadian producer of hot- and cold-rolled steel sheet and plate products, today announced that in the early hours of Saturday, January 20, 2024 there was a collapse of a structure supporting utilities piping at our coke-making plant. 

There have been no injuries and the Algoma team is managing the occurrence with the safety of our employees and the community as our highest priority.  

The incident resulted in a coke oven gas main failure generating abnormal coke oven gas flaring and air emissions.  

Additionally, a quantity of effluent left our site early this morning and entered the adjacent waterway. 

The source of the discharge has been identified and containment efforts are underway.

Algoma has notified community and regulatory stakeholders and is working to mitigate and monitor any possible impacts to the environment, our community and ongoing operations.

While coke production is currently interrupted, all other departments are operating normally.

Algoma advises that it has adequate coke supply on hand, and it does not anticipate an impact on customer shipments at this time.

Algoma is performing a comprehensive assessment of the damage and is focused on managing the occurrence in the safest possible manner, ensuring the seamless continuation of operations and safeguarding public safety and minimizing any environmental impact.