MidStates Steel and Wire: Success and Failure

By: Chris, Mark, Alex and Brittany

MidStates; The Beginning• Industry has played a vital role

in the growth of Montgomery County since the late 1800’s.

• Organized in 1900, the Crawfordsville Wire and Nail company grew from a small beginning to one of Crawfordsville's greatest assets

• The plant drew its wire from rods shipped from the Keystone plant at Peoria, Illinois.

History• MidStates was formed in March 1928,

when the Wire and Nail Company was purchased from its owners.

• By 1929,the plant had a wire drawing capacity of 175 tons every 24 hours.

• It was eventually merged with the Dwiggins Wire Fence Company of Anderson to become MidStates Steel and Wire Company.

Progress• MidStates introduced many new

technology machines and ideas. • They supplied many jobs for people in

and around the Crawfordsville area. • It was one of the most successful

businesses of its kind in the Midwest.• It helped business in Montgomery

county boom.

Brand New Technology

• The Hooded Automatic Pickler (HAP).

• It was the first company in the nation to put this process into working condition.

New Technology Contd.

• It cleans rods using a sulfuric acid and water solution.

• There are only five of these such processes in the world, and it was started by Gus Generis.

Inside the HAP• Cost: $2 million• Contains its own closed circuit.• Allows the operator to select a

cleaning process and transports the rods through the machine within seconds.

• The wire isn’t manually handled until it is transported to the next station.

Acid Pollution

• Nails and equipment were rusting• The sulfuric acid was used to get

rid of rust• Leftover acid was dumped

underground• Trees started growing over waste• People started to doubt Midstates’

procedures

Closing open Doors • Midstates closed in

1997 due to loss of business partners.

• The owners never came back to clean up

• Many chemical barrels were left

• Became a huge fire threat.

The End of MidStates

• Two tragic fires eventually engulfed the building

• Arson was thought to be the cause

• Homeless people and/or teenagers were blamed.

Explanation of The First Fire• The first fire,

happened on March 31, 2003.

• The fire turned out to be a three-block residential area evacuation.

• A local plant had to shut down and people were to leave their homes for the rest of the day.

Explanation of The Second Fire• The second fire, happened on April 29,

2003.• It was said that an adolescent who

started the fire. • Another possibility is that juveniles or

even mid-aged people may had methamphetamine laboratories.

• The second fire caused an evacuation and local companies to be shut down

Problems Caused By Fires..• Breathing Problems for local residents.• Burnt down building in a residential

area.• The company site still hasn’t been

cleaned up and it has been well over a year.

• Anyone who visits this area could become ill from these poisonous pollutants in the air.

Costs of Damages and Repairs

• The total cost of damages needed to be repaired will be approximately $279,000.

MidStates Today

• 2 Lafayette attorneys have bought the factory

• Improvements have been made since.

• Doubts still remain

The Pollution Conflict

Effects of zinc, lead, and oil/lubricant combustion, and many other pollution-related

problems

Oil/Lubricant Combustion

• The act of burning oil, lubricants, and other fuel-related chemicals in a non-proper form

• Also called PIC’s (Products of Incomplete Combustion)

• Midstates claims oil/lubricants were used to help manufacture products

What caused the pollution• Abandoned

oils/lubricants were left in the factory when Midstates shut down

• Fires have reached the chemicals, polluting air with smoke and combustion pollutants

Combustion pollutants

• Harmful chemicals caused by burning other dangerous pollutants

Carbon monoxide (CO)

• Odorless and colorless gas• Hundreds die each year from CO in their

homes• Reduces the ability of hemoglobin in

blood• Causes:

– Paralysis– Coma– Death

Nitrogen dioxide(NO2)

• Damages the respiratory tract• Highly toxic• Red-brown gas• Or:• Yellow liquid

Sulfur dioxide(SO2)

• Irritates:– Eyes– Nose– Respiratory

tract

Particulates

• Tiny particles that make up smoke• Damages:

– Eyes– Throat– Nose

Health effects

• Combustion pollutants can cause such problems as:– Headaches– Dizziness– Sleepiness– Nausea– Irritated Eyes– Breathing difficulties– Cancer

Lead and Zinc Poisoning

Lead (Pb) Poisoning

• No obvious symptoms• Causes loss of auditory memory• Destroys red blood cells• Brain damage

                                     

       

Zinc (Zn) Poisoning

• Causes:– Vomiting– Nausea– Liver/Kidney failure– Anemia

What is the Exxon Valdez

• The Exxon Valdez is an oil tanker that ran aground in Alaska on March 23 1989.

• It was one of the most know oil accidents in the World.

• The captain was Joe Hazelwood.

How Did the Accident Occur• The tanker was headed

toward icebergs, but was unable to be steered away by both Gregory Cousins and Robert Kagan

• Gregory Cousins was his third mate and was presumed to be fatigued during the accident.

How Did the Accident Occur

• Exxon hit the iceberg and then curved off toward the land

How Does This Compare to Other Accidents

• The Exxon Valdez is one of the largest oil spills in the United States.

• It is considered the #1 spill in terms of damage to the environment.

• 1,300 miles were impacted by oil.

• 200 miles were heavily impacted.

• It cause one of the hardest clean ups in the history of spills

Compared to Other Accidents

The Big Clean-Up• It took more than four

summers of clean up efforts before the clean up was called off.

• Not all beaches were cleaned.

• The clean up effort included; 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats, and 100 airplanes.

Clean-Up Continued• The clean up cost

about $2.1 billion• They used hot

water treatment, mechanical cleanup, and chemical agents.

Environment Effects• It is unknown how many

deaths of animals there were from the spill.

• The carcasses of more than 35,000 birds and 1,000 sea otters were found after the spill.

• The results of tests taken near the spill are still unknown

Another Case

• The MidStates building also had lead and zinc poisoning.

• A mine located in Marmorilik in West Greenland also had problems with lead and zinc.

Another Case• The mine resulted in

serious lead and zinc pollution of a large nearby fjord system.

• High levels of lead and zinc were found in seawater, sediments, seaweed, and fish around the area.

SolutionsWays to solve Midstate’s

problem

Solution I• Haul all harmful chemicals out of

Midstates• Pros-

– No more pollution by Midstates to affect Crawfordsville

– No more harmful fires

• Cons– Chemicals would affect other areas– Disaster could occur from car crash, acid

rain, etc.

Solution II• Demolish the Midstates building and

have a massive cleanup• Pros-

– The Midstates area will be clean– Make way for new economic opportunities

• Cons– Chemicals could escape and cause major

pollution problems– Demolishing the building could affect other

buildings

Solution III• Pollution-eating bacteria• Pros-

– Would break down all chemicals into atoms, causing no more harm

– Less labor work• Cons-

– Don’t know if product is 100% effective

– Bacteria may eat something else after done eating chemicals

Bibliography• EVOS-Oil Spill Facts-Q & A, April 21st, 2004

www.oilspill.state.ak.us/facts/qanda.html• EVOS-Oil Spill Facts-Photos, April 21st, 2004

www.oilspill.state.ak.us/facts/photos.html• Valdez Link.com, April 21st, 2004

www.valdezlink.com/inpol/pages/album.htm

• Batelle.org, April 21st

www.battelle.org/envirement/exxon-valdez.stm

Bibliography (continued)

• Chemical Elements.com, April 30th, 2004http://www.chemicalelements.com

· Chemistry: Webelements Periodic Table, April 30th, 2004http://www.webelements.com

• Corwin, Dan. Interviewed May 7th, 2004.• Zinc Poisoning, April 30th, 2004

http://www.birdieboutique.com/zincpoisoning.html

Bibliography (continued)

• Environmental Protection Agency – Sulfur Dioxide, April 30th, 2004,

http://epa.gov/air/aqtrnd95/so2.html • Sources of Indoor Pollution, April

29th,2004 http://www.epa.gov/iaq/no2.html

Bibliography(continued)• The Journal Review, May 6th, 2004,

http://www.journalreview.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=8697&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&S=1

• Cline, Pat. “Mid-States pioneers new process in U.S.”. Montgomery. April 1978

• Curtin, Charles and Gineris, Gus.“Inland Wire Products Company”. Mid-Statements. 1957

Bibliography(continued)

• Posthauer, Ron. Interviewed May 7th, 2004.• Cline, Pat. Crawfordsville: A Pictorial History.

St. Louis: G. Bradley Publishing, 1991.• Pollution Eating Bacteria. May 3rd, 2004.

http://newsdesk.inel.gov/press_releases/1998/prpollutioneatingbacteria2.html

• CBC News: Pollution-eating bacteria may help with cleanups. May 3rd, 2004. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/10/31/tca021031