UPDATE: Steel mill brass are all on-site, responding to pipe collapse

Algoma Steel CEO Michael Garcia and his full leadership team are at the mill site this weekend, "assessing and mitigating" after a large piping failure Saturday at the coke-making facility.

"It's an all-hands-on-deck approach," Laura Devoni, director of corporate affairs and sustainability, tells SooToday.

"Our leadership team has been here over the weekend and the necessary people out in the field have been here working on the issues."

"He [Garcia] was on site yesterday. He is on site today. Our entire leadership team has been on site."

That, Devoni says, includes all the steelmaker's C-suite executives, a term that typically includes executive-level managers such as chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief human resources officer.

As SooToday reported yesterday, no one was hurt in the pipe collapse, which occurred at an unspecified hour early Saturday.

But there were abnormal air emissions and a discharge of effluent into the St. Marys River.

Coke-making has halted. Other operations at the steel mill are unaffected.

Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker issued a statement saying he's been briefed on the incident and "will remain in close contact with Algoma Steel moving forward."

"We've notified and engaged a number of community partners and stakeholders and the regulatory authorities because our relationships in Sault Ste. Marie are very important to us," Devoni said.

Asked by SooToday whether any specifics were available about the substances released into the air and water, she said: "I can't give you any more details on quantities of emissions, whether air or water... although we have worked to contain the [water] emissions."

"The environment ministry was on site and they will do their own analysis."

"In terms of the extent of the damage or the cause of the damage, those sorts of things, we're assessing and mitigating and don't have information regarding those things at this time."

As for the cause of the pipe collapse, Devoni said that's still being determined but it's nothing so obvious as, say, a truck knocking out a support strut.

"As the situation progresses, we plan to keep the community and our employees apprised of what's going on. Working safely is our top priority. And we're working with that in mind and we are committed to providing updates when when the time is right."