By Fionnán Sheahan, Political Correspondent
Irish Examiner 27/10/04
THE last owners of Irish Steel, who have refused to pay the clean-up costs of their former Irish site, are set to form the world's largest steel company in a €14 billion deal.Lakshmi Mittal, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, and the former owner of the Ispat International site at Haulbowline, Co Cork, will merge his family's steel assets and buy the US based International Steel Group Inc.
The €14bn deal will create the world's biggest steel company, with operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States. Analysts say the enlarged group will be worth €16.5bn. Mr Mittal's company is refusing to accept any responsibility for the constantly escalating costs of the €30 million clean-up of waste at the former Irish Ispat site in Cork Harbour.
Irish Steel closed in June 2001 with the loss of 450 jobs, after Ispat International bought the plant from the State for just £1 in the mid-'90s.
Ranked as Britain's fifth-richest man in 'The Sunday Times Rich List', Mr Mittal's personal fortune is believed to be in the region of €5bn.
According to Green Party TD Dan Boyle, Ispat and Mr Mittal have been allowed by the Government to walk away from their obligations at Haulbowline. "He seems to be largely in the clear. There is still a kid gloves approach there from the Government's side. I think on many levels there was room for a case to be taken," Mr Boyle said.
The clean-up operation has started and involves the removal of 80,000 tonnes of toxic material and a million tonnes of non-hazardous sludge. The €30m cost could yet turn out to be a conservative estimate.
"I would have thought that European competition laws at least would allow for a challenge. The company's market position was arguably subsidised by the Irish taxpayer and the British taxpayer," Mr Boyle said.
Netherlands-based Ispat International, 77% of which is owned by Mr Mittal, will buy the Mittal family's LNM Holdings to form a new company called Mittal Steel Co. The new Mittal Steel Co will then pay about €3.5bn to the shareholders of the Ohio-based International Steel Group. Mittal Steel will have operations in 14 countries, employ 165,000 people and have up to $1bn in capital expenditure this year.
"The combined Mittal Steel will be the largest and most global steel company in the world and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Euro-next Amsterdam," Mr Mittal said yesterday.
Source
27 October 2004
31 July 2004
Taxpayer to foot €30m bill for clean-up of steel works site
By Dan Collins
Irish Examiner 31/7/04
THE former owner of Irish Ispat in Cork, who recently bought a house in London for £106 million, should pick up the €30m tab for the clean up of the steel works site, according to the former chairman of Cork County Council.Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who is remembered for leaving 450 workers high and dry when he closed the plant in June 2001, should not get away free from obligation, Labour's Cllr John Mulvihill said yesterday.
A bid by the State to have the liquidator of Irish Ispat, formerly Irish Steel, meet the estimated costs of making the Haulbowline Island site environmentally safe were dismissed by the High Court yesterday.
Ms Justice Carroll granted an application by the liquidator, Ray Jackson, to be allowed disclaim an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) licence requiring a number of environmental safety conditions to be observed at the Haulbowline site.
The cost of cleaning up the site, where hazardous radioactive waste and toxic scrap materials are dumped, will be funded by the Irish taxpayer "unless Mittal is somehow held responsible", said Cllr Mulvihill, who lives near the old plant.
Referring to one of Britain's wealthiest residents, who recently spent €50m on his daughter's wedding bash, Cllr Mulvihill said: "He took over Irish Steel, asset stripped the place, laid off 450 workers and paid minimum redundancy. He also left an environmental mess behind which the Irish taxpayer is expected to pay for. This is absolutely crazy."
Cllr Mulvihill has requested a full report on the matter be brought before next September's meeting of Cork County Council.
In related proceedings brought by the State against Irish Ispat, the judge dismissed the State's proceedings. She adjourned her decision on costs.
Source
Irish Examiner 31/7/04
THE former owner of Irish Ispat in Cork, who recently bought a house in London for £106 million, should pick up the €30m tab for the clean up of the steel works site, according to the former chairman of Cork County Council.Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who is remembered for leaving 450 workers high and dry when he closed the plant in June 2001, should not get away free from obligation, Labour's Cllr John Mulvihill said yesterday.
A bid by the State to have the liquidator of Irish Ispat, formerly Irish Steel, meet the estimated costs of making the Haulbowline Island site environmentally safe were dismissed by the High Court yesterday.
Ms Justice Carroll granted an application by the liquidator, Ray Jackson, to be allowed disclaim an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) licence requiring a number of environmental safety conditions to be observed at the Haulbowline site.
The cost of cleaning up the site, where hazardous radioactive waste and toxic scrap materials are dumped, will be funded by the Irish taxpayer "unless Mittal is somehow held responsible", said Cllr Mulvihill, who lives near the old plant.
Referring to one of Britain's wealthiest residents, who recently spent €50m on his daughter's wedding bash, Cllr Mulvihill said: "He took over Irish Steel, asset stripped the place, laid off 450 workers and paid minimum redundancy. He also left an environmental mess behind which the Irish taxpayer is expected to pay for. This is absolutely crazy."
Cllr Mulvihill has requested a full report on the matter be brought before next September's meeting of Cork County Council.
In related proceedings brought by the State against Irish Ispat, the judge dismissed the State's proceedings. She adjourned her decision on costs.
Source
24 January 2003
Liquidated steel company to abandon lease
By Tommy Barker, Property Editor
Irish Examiner 24/1/03
THE Irish taxpayer is about to be handed a poisoned chalice - an island property with a clean-up bill likely to cost tens of millions of euro.
Liquidator of ISPAT/Irish Steel Ray Jackson of KPMG last night confirmed he is to seek High Court approval for the liquidated steel company to abandon its lease on the Haulbowline Island plant in Cork harbour.
It means the landlord, the Department of Finance, will be left facing an as-yet undetermined clean-up bill to sterilise the land which has radioactive and other pollutant problems identified by an EPA report.
Another industrial site, IFI at Marino Point, will be put on the market in Spring and may make €15-20 million.
Liquidator Ray Jackson of KPMG last night confirmed he has appointed agents CB Hamilton Osborne King to prepare the former Cork harbour-based fertiliser plant for sale.
He is also the liquidator for the long-troubled Irish Steel/ISPAT on Haulbowline Island, where a clean-up cost will run to tens of millions given the radioactive poisoning of some of the land as well as pollution from furnace dust, oils and metals.
Local public representative John Mulvihill said: "It will be a holy and utter disgrace if the State and taxpayer has to pick up this cost.
"ISPAT bought the plant for £1, got grants of millions, made money out of the plant and then walked away after five years with a fat wallet."
In comparison, Bord Gáis faced costs of €38 million to decontaminate the old gasometer in Dublin, and it cost them a further €6 million to cleanse lands in Cork where they now have their new Headquarters.
The Irish Navy has its base on Haulbowline next to Irish Steel, but a Department of Defence spokesperson said they had no interest in taking over the steel mill site.
"We have no aspirations towards it, we don't need it and we don't want it.
"Basically, it is an industrial plant which happens to be next to our base, that's all," he said. However, there will be demand for another liquidated Cork industry plant, the IFI site in Marino Point with a 100 acre plant, berth for ships and a rail spur off the Cork to Cobh rail line, plus a 125 acre farm across the road.
It may appeal to the harbour authority who are seeking to move their operations from Cork city's docks. Port of Cork chief executive Brendan Keating said the harbour authority "has to give it some thought. We cannot afford not to consider it."
However, it remains to be seen if it can afford to pursue it. The Port of Cork is looking at a number of harbour locations, including in-filling Raffeen Creek at Monkstown which will face considerable local public opposition.
Source
Irish Examiner 24/1/03
THE Irish taxpayer is about to be handed a poisoned chalice - an island property with a clean-up bill likely to cost tens of millions of euro.
Liquidator of ISPAT/Irish Steel Ray Jackson of KPMG last night confirmed he is to seek High Court approval for the liquidated steel company to abandon its lease on the Haulbowline Island plant in Cork harbour.
It means the landlord, the Department of Finance, will be left facing an as-yet undetermined clean-up bill to sterilise the land which has radioactive and other pollutant problems identified by an EPA report.
Another industrial site, IFI at Marino Point, will be put on the market in Spring and may make €15-20 million.
Liquidator Ray Jackson of KPMG last night confirmed he has appointed agents CB Hamilton Osborne King to prepare the former Cork harbour-based fertiliser plant for sale.
He is also the liquidator for the long-troubled Irish Steel/ISPAT on Haulbowline Island, where a clean-up cost will run to tens of millions given the radioactive poisoning of some of the land as well as pollution from furnace dust, oils and metals.
Local public representative John Mulvihill said: "It will be a holy and utter disgrace if the State and taxpayer has to pick up this cost.
"ISPAT bought the plant for £1, got grants of millions, made money out of the plant and then walked away after five years with a fat wallet."
In comparison, Bord Gáis faced costs of €38 million to decontaminate the old gasometer in Dublin, and it cost them a further €6 million to cleanse lands in Cork where they now have their new Headquarters.
The Irish Navy has its base on Haulbowline next to Irish Steel, but a Department of Defence spokesperson said they had no interest in taking over the steel mill site.
"We have no aspirations towards it, we don't need it and we don't want it.
"Basically, it is an industrial plant which happens to be next to our base, that's all," he said. However, there will be demand for another liquidated Cork industry plant, the IFI site in Marino Point with a 100 acre plant, berth for ships and a rail spur off the Cork to Cobh rail line, plus a 125 acre farm across the road.
It may appeal to the harbour authority who are seeking to move their operations from Cork city's docks. Port of Cork chief executive Brendan Keating said the harbour authority "has to give it some thought. We cannot afford not to consider it."
However, it remains to be seen if it can afford to pursue it. The Port of Cork is looking at a number of harbour locations, including in-filling Raffeen Creek at Monkstown which will face considerable local public opposition.
Source
11 January 2002
End of the line at steel plant
By Tommy Barker
Irish Examiner 11/1/02
THE break-up of the steel-making plant at Irish Ispat has commenced. Interest has already been shown in some of the multi-million pound machinery belonging to Irish Ispat, in liquidation, from the US, Germany and even China.
Among the plant items to be sold are furnaces, casting machines, steel mills, cranes and electrical transformers. An electric arc furnace, built in 1980, is one of the largest items to be sold and moved: with a 75 MVA transformer and back-up, it reputedly has the single biggest electricity demand of any piece of machinery in the State, comparable to the energy demands of a mid-sized Irish town.
Moves to sell the actual land at Haulbowline Island in Cork harbour occupied by Irish Ispat/Irish Steel, which will raise the largest sums from Irish Ispat's liquidation, will not be made until later this year when the plant has been sold off and moved, the Irish Examiner understands.
Among those likely to have an interest in acquiring at least some of the lands will be the Naval Service and Department of Defence, which has said it is keen to get more berthage space for its adjoining Irish Naval Base at Haulbowline.
The Ispat site of c60 acres includes a dry dock, good deep water berths and some 50,000 sq metres of buildings.
Ispat's heavy steel making plant and machinery is being marketed internationally by Lisney in Dublin and Cork, who report encouraging initial interest in some of the more valuable equipment from the loss-making steel mill which went into liquidation last July.
Efforts by liquidator Ray Jackson of KPMG to find a new operator for the plant as a going concern failed to find a suitable buyer after several months of canvassing other steel-making companies - hence the break-up of the plant, where up to 400 jobs have been lost and where creditors are owed tens of millions of euros.
Mr Jackson was unavailable for comment on the break-up process as he was out of the country.
Don Meghen and Aidan Boland of Lisney are involved in the sale of the plant, and have placed advertisements in specialist magazines and journals worldwide, as well as circulating all steel manufacturing companies about the sell-off. According to Mr Meghen, it is too early to say what sums will be realised from the plant sell off, but it's likely to yield millions of euro.
Industry sources suggested at one stage since the liquidation that the total assets, including land, could come to as much as €25 million, but the vast bulk of the asset value is likely to attach to the lands.
Moves are afoot to improve the title to sections of the Irish Ispat lands with the assistance of the Department of Finance.
The company, formerly Irish Steel, was sold to Indian company Ispat for a nominal £1 after the new owners agreed to take on the £27m debt the company had run while in State ownership.
Lisneys declined to comment on what moves had been made to prepare the Ispat lands in Cork harbour, facing Cobh town, for eventual sale.
While the Navy may have an interest in some if not all of the land, and its acquisition would made sound sense in security terms as well as meeting spatial needs, sources close to the proposed new Marine College for Ringaskiddy suggested they would have no interest in locating on Haulbowline Island. Irish Ispat last year sold land close by at Ringaskiddy for about £3.5 million for the planned new marine college.
Source
Irish Examiner 11/1/02
THE break-up of the steel-making plant at Irish Ispat has commenced. Interest has already been shown in some of the multi-million pound machinery belonging to Irish Ispat, in liquidation, from the US, Germany and even China.
Among the plant items to be sold are furnaces, casting machines, steel mills, cranes and electrical transformers. An electric arc furnace, built in 1980, is one of the largest items to be sold and moved: with a 75 MVA transformer and back-up, it reputedly has the single biggest electricity demand of any piece of machinery in the State, comparable to the energy demands of a mid-sized Irish town.
Moves to sell the actual land at Haulbowline Island in Cork harbour occupied by Irish Ispat/Irish Steel, which will raise the largest sums from Irish Ispat's liquidation, will not be made until later this year when the plant has been sold off and moved, the Irish Examiner understands.
Among those likely to have an interest in acquiring at least some of the lands will be the Naval Service and Department of Defence, which has said it is keen to get more berthage space for its adjoining Irish Naval Base at Haulbowline.
The Ispat site of c60 acres includes a dry dock, good deep water berths and some 50,000 sq metres of buildings.
Ispat's heavy steel making plant and machinery is being marketed internationally by Lisney in Dublin and Cork, who report encouraging initial interest in some of the more valuable equipment from the loss-making steel mill which went into liquidation last July.
Efforts by liquidator Ray Jackson of KPMG to find a new operator for the plant as a going concern failed to find a suitable buyer after several months of canvassing other steel-making companies - hence the break-up of the plant, where up to 400 jobs have been lost and where creditors are owed tens of millions of euros.
Mr Jackson was unavailable for comment on the break-up process as he was out of the country.
Don Meghen and Aidan Boland of Lisney are involved in the sale of the plant, and have placed advertisements in specialist magazines and journals worldwide, as well as circulating all steel manufacturing companies about the sell-off. According to Mr Meghen, it is too early to say what sums will be realised from the plant sell off, but it's likely to yield millions of euro.
Industry sources suggested at one stage since the liquidation that the total assets, including land, could come to as much as €25 million, but the vast bulk of the asset value is likely to attach to the lands.
Moves are afoot to improve the title to sections of the Irish Ispat lands with the assistance of the Department of Finance.
The company, formerly Irish Steel, was sold to Indian company Ispat for a nominal £1 after the new owners agreed to take on the £27m debt the company had run while in State ownership.
Lisneys declined to comment on what moves had been made to prepare the Ispat lands in Cork harbour, facing Cobh town, for eventual sale.
While the Navy may have an interest in some if not all of the land, and its acquisition would made sound sense in security terms as well as meeting spatial needs, sources close to the proposed new Marine College for Ringaskiddy suggested they would have no interest in locating on Haulbowline Island. Irish Ispat last year sold land close by at Ringaskiddy for about £3.5 million for the planned new marine college.
Source
13 May 2001
Ispat says that surface dust is non-hazardous
By Niall Murray
Irish Examiner 13/5/01
IRISH Ispat has responded to strong objections made by the Naval Service against conditions for a licence to allow the steel company continue its operations. While the Naval Service submission made at the end of March wished Ispat well, their safety adviser Lieutenant Colonel Randal Counihan expressed concern about the health of Naval personnel on the Haulbowline base alongside the 400-job steel plant.
Lt Col Counihan said the continued use of Rocky Island for storing hazardous and other waste would pose an unacceptable health and environmental hazard. He requested the steel company's landfill be closed because of danger from surface dust.
In response to these objections, Irish Ispat wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency saying the main component of the dust is slag, which is non-hazardous. Ispat's quality and environment manager, Keith Bywater wrote the dumping of slag and mill-scale on the landfill and their subsequent sale are bona fide industrial/recycling operations.
The company also said it is working to solve the problem of occasional emissions of black smoke through the plant's chimney stack.
A group of EPA inspectors must decide whether to grant a full Integrated Pollution Licence to Irish Ispat, laying down conditions on noise pollution and emissions. The EPA will consider objections to the draft licence issued in March.
Source
Irish Examiner 13/5/01
IRISH Ispat has responded to strong objections made by the Naval Service against conditions for a licence to allow the steel company continue its operations. While the Naval Service submission made at the end of March wished Ispat well, their safety adviser Lieutenant Colonel Randal Counihan expressed concern about the health of Naval personnel on the Haulbowline base alongside the 400-job steel plant.
Lt Col Counihan said the continued use of Rocky Island for storing hazardous and other waste would pose an unacceptable health and environmental hazard. He requested the steel company's landfill be closed because of danger from surface dust.
In response to these objections, Irish Ispat wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency saying the main component of the dust is slag, which is non-hazardous. Ispat's quality and environment manager, Keith Bywater wrote the dumping of slag and mill-scale on the landfill and their subsequent sale are bona fide industrial/recycling operations.
The company also said it is working to solve the problem of occasional emissions of black smoke through the plant's chimney stack.
A group of EPA inspectors must decide whether to grant a full Integrated Pollution Licence to Irish Ispat, laying down conditions on noise pollution and emissions. The EPA will consider objections to the draft licence issued in March.
Source
17 January 2001
EPA may seek court order to close Irish Ispat
RTÉ News 17/1/01
The Environmental Protection Agency has said that it will seek a High Court injunction which will close the Irish Ispat steel manufacturing plant in Cork, unless the company brings the emission of toxic dust under control. The warning is a significant threat to the future of the plant, which employs more than 300 people. In documents seen by RTÉ News, the EPA says that it is satisfied that the emissions are causing significant environmental pollution.
With a promise to invest £30 million over five years, Ispat International took over Irish Steel in May 1996 as the plant was about to close. Five years later just £19m of that money has been invested and Irish Ispat is facing difficulties over pollution which could threaten the future of the plant. Since 1999, Ispat has informed the EPA on over a dozen occasions about emissions from the plant which posed a risk of pollution. These emissions, or huge dust clouds, contained lead and other dioxins.
The EPA has given the company several opportunities to take corrective action. But now, faced with more than 70 complaints from the public and bodies such as the Naval Service and Cobh Chamber of Commerce, the EPA has threatened to seek an injunction in the High Court, which would close Irish Ispat Ireland's only steel manufacturing plant, unless the emissions stop.
Source
The Environmental Protection Agency has said that it will seek a High Court injunction which will close the Irish Ispat steel manufacturing plant in Cork, unless the company brings the emission of toxic dust under control. The warning is a significant threat to the future of the plant, which employs more than 300 people. In documents seen by RTÉ News, the EPA says that it is satisfied that the emissions are causing significant environmental pollution.
With a promise to invest £30 million over five years, Ispat International took over Irish Steel in May 1996 as the plant was about to close. Five years later just £19m of that money has been invested and Irish Ispat is facing difficulties over pollution which could threaten the future of the plant. Since 1999, Ispat has informed the EPA on over a dozen occasions about emissions from the plant which posed a risk of pollution. These emissions, or huge dust clouds, contained lead and other dioxins.
The EPA has given the company several opportunities to take corrective action. But now, faced with more than 70 complaints from the public and bodies such as the Naval Service and Cobh Chamber of Commerce, the EPA has threatened to seek an injunction in the High Court, which would close Irish Ispat Ireland's only steel manufacturing plant, unless the emissions stop.
Source
News At One
RTÉ News 17/1/01
ISPAT plant under heavy pressure from EPA over dust emissions Two days after a fire at the ISPAT steel plant in Cork in which a man died, it has emerged that the company has been under heavy pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency to deal with dust emissions. This was so much so that the Agency has threatened to take ISPAT to the High Court. They have had more than 50 complaints.
Ciarán O'Brien, EPA Regional Manager in Cork, explains his dealings with the company.
Source (audio)
ISPAT plant under heavy pressure from EPA over dust emissions Two days after a fire at the ISPAT steel plant in Cork in which a man died, it has emerged that the company has been under heavy pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency to deal with dust emissions. This was so much so that the Agency has threatened to take ISPAT to the High Court. They have had more than 50 complaints.
Ciarán O'Brien, EPA Regional Manager in Cork, explains his dealings with the company.
Source (audio)
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