FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 12, 2002

OHIO RAIL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
 50 W. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
telephone (614) 644-0306

ORDC Provides Grants for Three Rail Projects

COLUMBUS- The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) today approved $372,729 in grants for three rail projects.

James E. Seney, Executive Director of the ORDC, said the combined projects will help preserve

1,620 jobs in the steel industry and will also help the City of Lorain redevelop its Downtown area along the Black River.

Approved were:

• A grant of $290,933 to the N&T Railway Company to repair track at the Republic Engineered Products' steel plants in Canton and Lorain. The two plants combined had 230 derailments last year, which were attributed to failure to maintain the track.
• A grant of up to $75,000 to the Norfolk Southern Railway, Inc., (NS) to install a switch needed to restore rail service at Art Iron, Incorporated's warehouse and distribution facility in Toledo.
• A $7,696 grant to the Lorain Port Authority to purchase abandoned track and an easement from CSX Transportation, Inc.  needed to develop a multi-modal transportation center that will be part of the Grove Site redevelopment project.. The $6.95 million transportation center, which will be financed with state and federal funds, would serve both passenger and freight trains.

Seney said Republic's Canton and Lorain plants combined had 230 derailments last year that disrupted production and posed a safety hazard. He blamed the derailments on the lack of proper maintenance because of financial problems. The Canton facility formerly belonged to LTV Steel Corporation while the Lorain facility was owned jointly by U.S. Steel Corporation and Kobe Steel.

Seney said efficient rail service is critical to the operation of the two plants, which make 40-footlong, four-inch and six-inch square bars, known as billets, that are used by the automotive industry and heavy manufacturers.

Seney said Republic committed to retaining 300 jobs at the Canton plant and 1,100 in Lorain. The company also promised to generate 20,000 rail carloads annually from Canton and 10,000 from Lorain.

The grant to NS is to install a turnout needed to restore rail service to Art Iron to avoid the necessity of trucking steel beams to its other plant in Toledo for fabricating.

Seney said unless the company had rail service, it might have been forced to move its two facilities to Indiana.

He said Art Iron plans to construct a 35,000-square-foot warehousing facility that will cost $1 million. Seney said the ORDC grant will preserve 120 jobs and create 10 new ones.

Contact: James E. Seney
               (614)644-0306

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