New V & M Rolling Mill, Youngstown, OH

In Youngstown in Ohio on the edge of the Mahoning River, where once stood many blast furnaces for steel making there are more than 400 workers constructing a new steel plant to make pipe.  This was unthinkable a few years ago, to see a new $650 million steel plant here. When complete, it will stand 10 stories tall, it will involve one million square feet of floor space and make seamless steel pipes. These will be used in the natural gas industry now having a boom in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

France’s Vallourec & Mannesmann Holdings Inc., one of the world’s largest makers of steel pipe for the energy market, has decided to build the plant here next to an existing facility. The V&M project is the linchpin for economic recovery in Youngstown.  It is a transformational investment and one that could serve the neighboring Marcellus and Utica shale fields for years to come.  It required an up-front investment — waiving some local taxes and spending $25 million in federal stimulus funds — to seal the deal, but in Youngstown, they think it’s money well spent.

As a result of the exploration boom, a natural gas transmission line — the Rockies Express — was constructed, which  stretches from the very eastern edge of Ohio and cuts through Muskingum, Perry and Fairfield counties before continuing on all the way to Colorado. The Rockies Express crosses the 40 acres that Clark Burton and his family own on Ohio 42 in northeastern Warren County. The pipeline is about 1,000 feet from the Burtons’ house.

But the pipe — running through an area that’s seen increasing development since the Burtons bought their land in the 1980s — is a few hundred feet from the homes of neighbors, although it doesn’t go under their property. If the pipeline were to burst, it would cause devastation for those neighbors,  Clark Burton said.

This summer’s mishap in Montana followed a catastrophic natural gas transmission line explosion in 2010 in San Bruno, Calif. The incident killed eight, injured 60 and destroyed 37 homes, renewing concerns about pipeline safety.