Magnetation picks Indiana for pellet plant
November 27, 2012 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
Magnetation will build its new iron-ore pellet plant in Reynolds, Ind., the Grand Rapids firm announced Tuesday, spurning efforts to lure the plant to Superior or Minnesota’s Iron Range.
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“The company picked the Indiana site because it had ample space, rapid permitting and because it was close to the iron-ore pellets’ ultimate destination — AK Steel’s giant blast furnaces in Middletown, Ohio, and Ashland, Ky.”
Let’s examine those three reasons:
1. ample space. Despite the unconscionable amount of federal land in St Louis county, there is still plenty of land available for a plant. No-longer-producing mines would be a good place to look.
2. nearness to market. Makes no sense. The raw material — iron ore from The Range has to be shipped to Indiana then re-shipped to the customer. The finished pellets could be shipped directly to the customer for a lower cost since thee would be no waste being shipped. And that waste now has to be disposed of in Indiana.
3. rapid permitting. The real reason. Minnesota is controlled by environmental extremists that prefer no economic opportunity to any risk no matter how slight. Their tactic is delay, delay, delay. Until we vote out these obstructionists’ elected partners, The Range will continue to decline.
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Good points Burntsider! Let’s go one step further.
1. No BWCA or Voyageur’s National Park in Indiana. Therefore, emissions are lower (that’s a joke) and the Obama directed EPA, along with the environmental extremists will be fewer. Indirectly, David Tomassoni testified in St. Paul yesterday at a hearing with the MPCA that EPA regulations will kill the taconite industry. That’s the Obama EPA, the Obama Tomassoni and other Range DFLers campaigned and voted for.
2. DFLer Joe Begich verbally accosted Magnetation CEO when he appeared before the IRRRB making presentations for loan requests. All loans have been paid back early after 3 plants have already been constructed on the Range. Begich also ragged on Lehtinen when he was General Manager of Inland Steel in Virginia, calling him a young man with a lot to learn.
3. The United Steelworkers/Sierra Club. Magnetation’s current employees are not Steelworkers, but rather 49ers. They have a cordial work relationship. If the plant were built in Itasca County, the Steelworkers/Sierra Club would raise holy heck with Lehtinen’s business until he caved and let them organize his plant and then the Sierra Club would have all the inside information they want about Magnetation’s operations which could be used for lawsuits and harassment. Indiana is a right to work state, less of that kind of crap goes on there.
Does anybody wonder why Lehtinen went to Indiana?
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Doubly bad, Indiana pellets will now compete with Minnesota pellets in a shrinking market. Expect many more layoffs on the Range.
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You understand what this means. Mn is demoted to a suplier of raw materials and the value added manufacturing is being done elsewhere. This is third world stuff.
How couild our Governor have let this happen.
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