Gary, Indiana : Steel town

1
Gary, Indiana Steel town

• Megan Nordin
• Urbs 515 race, poverty the urban environment
• Professor raquel rivera- pinderhughes,
• urban studies environmental studies program
• San francisco state university spring 2004

• Permission granted to use the material herein If
  author,
• course, university, and professor are credited

2

• This presentation focuses on the steel industrys
  cumulative impacts on the city of gary, indiana
  from its conception in 1906 to the present.
• It is designed to describe the formation of gary,
  examining the role the steel industry played in
  the process. it analyzes the various impacts
  resulting from steel production, paying
  particular attention to the social,
  environmental, and public health effects.
• We start by reviewing the history of garys
  establishment as a city. Then we examine the
  steel making process itself, carefully
  identifying the associated environmental and
  health impacts. Finally, we study those
  communities that are affected most, dissecting
  the factor of race, class, and power and its role
  in the entire process.

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Gary, indiana Site location

• Gary, indiana is located along the lake michigan
  shoreline, just east of chicago.
• Prior to development, gary was nothing more than
  a few scatterred homes along a railroad line.
• This site was chosen by u.s.s. steel works in
  1905 for the location of their new steel mill
  complex.

www.gary.in.us/visitgary.asp
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Gary, the magic City

• Gary, named after the president and chairman of
  u.s. steel works, elbert h. gary, was proposed as
  the new industrial center of the world.
• 213 corporations combined their efforts to form
  and build u.s.s. gary steel works.
• Optimistic observers hailed gary as the city of
  the century, an industrial utopia.
• Immigrants fled to Gary by the thousands, looking
  for work. They mostly came from eastern europe.

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Building gary
preliminary preparations
for the steel mills

• The land proposed for the new mills was comprised
  of sand dunes, two rivers, and swampland, rich in
  biodiversity.
• March 12, 1906, construction began laying out the
  mills, railroad yards, and harbor.
• 1. The dunes were leveled.
• 2. The grand Calumet river was relocated
  forming a
• moat at the southern end of the mill.
  
• 3. 2, 000, 000 yards of concrete were
  laid, covering
• existing swampland.
• 4. 700 ft. along a halfmile strip of the
  shoreline of
• lake michigan was filled in with
  concrete.
• 5. A 25 foot deep and 250 feet wide ship
  canal was
• dredged in the harbor.

Dredging the ship canal. www. dlib.indiana.edu/co
llections/steel
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Grow, gary, grow..

• Gary was conceived and planned at the same time.
  Visions of a thriving downtown with large
  boulevards and monumental buildings were in the
  workings immendiatedly.

5th and broadway construction
www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/steel/context/ess
ay3.htm
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Early Construction housing

• Between 1906 and 1909, the gary land company (a
  subsidairy of u.s. steel works) built 506 houses
  of various types. These homes were not affordable
  for the average steel worker. They mostly housed
  steel executives and company officials.
• In 1913, the company constructed almost 300
  additional buildings. Relatively high rents
  excluded most workers, or caused overcrowding.
  The bulk of garys residents were forced to seek
  housing elsewhere in the city.

By 1908, garys population exceeded 10,000.
Heres what the workers were left
with. www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/steel/conte
xt/essay2.htm
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The steel mills

• By 1920, u.s.s. gary works contained 12 blast
  furnaces, 838 coke ovens, 45 open- hearth ovens,
  2 25-ton converters, a rail mill, 2 plate mills,
  12 merchant mills, an axle mill, a tie plate
  mill, a steel wheel plant, and a dozen mechanical
  shops covering over 300,000 sq. ft.
• The buildings were comprised of over 100,000 tons
  of structural steel, 9,000 tons of corrugated
  sheets, 4,000 squares of tile roofing, and
  163,000, 000 bricks.

Panorama of steel mills www.dlib.edu/cllections/s
teel
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The steel making process

• Each step of the steel making process is unique
  in its input and output.
• Gary works was organized in a east to west
  fashion, with the finished product completed at
  the west end.
• Yield and harmful refuse generally declined along
  the east to west production line.

www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/steel
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Process facilities

• East to west
• Sintering plant
• Coke ovens blast furnaces
  
• Open heARTH OVENS INGOT
  MOLDS
• IGNOT STRIPPERS SOAKING PITS
• BLOOMS, SLABS, BILLETS
  Merchant finishing mills

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1. The coke plant

• In the coke plant, each step of the
  transformation of coal to coke generates
  pollutants.
• 1. As coal bakes at 2,000 degrees,
  suspended carbon
• particles, tars, hydrocarbons, carbon
  monoxide,
• methane, and sulfur dioxide escape
  from the ovens.
• 2. The product is cooled with water and
  steam lifts
• tiny coke particles into the air.
• 3. The water used retains coke residue,
  along
• with ammonia and phenol.
• When waste recovery and recycling allowed for
  profit through other applications, it was
  utilized.
• usually not.

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Sintering plant/ blast furnaces

• Sintering plants combine iron ore with
  metallurgic dust to form an agglomerated chunk
  strong enough to bake in the furnace.
• 1. The process releases small particles of
  iron, carbon,
• limestone dust, hydrogen sullfide, and
  sulfur
• dioxide into the air.
• Blast furnaces and open hearth furnaces yielded
  slag, a unwanted solid impurity that collects
  above the molten metal.
• 1. Its estimated that the blast furnaces
  alone produce
• one million tons of slag annually.

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Rolling millsbillets, blooms, slabs

• Molten steel from the furnaces went to one of
  several rolling mills, where it was shaped into
  billets, blooms, or slabs.
• 1. Rolling mills produce unwanted scales
  that are
• blasted away with water jets into lagoons.
• 2. The scales settle and are collected. The
  remaining
• water is pumped into the grand calumet
  river.
• 3. Another cleansing technique, known as
  pickling
• produces sulfuric acid fumes.

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So who works where ?

• Well its complicated.
• originally, eastern european immigrants
  manned the eastern end of the plant, where most
  hazardous processes occurred.
• american born whites manned the cleaner
  western portion of the facilities and held
  management positions.
• as time went on, the demographics of the work
  force changed drastically.

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A shift in the labor force

• By the 1920s, steel laborers began to
  form unions. The unions fought for higher wages
  and safer working conditions. At the same time,
  african americans were flocking to the north in
  great numbers, where labor opportunities were
  abundant. As american born and foreign born
  laborers were striking, african americans were
  being used as replacements. The african american
  population began to hold a strong place in the
  steel industry. At the time, this population
  was willing to work at lower wages than their
  white counterparts. This started a new shift,
  moving the white immigrants out of the most
  hazardous positions and the non-white immigrants
  and african americans into them.

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A Segregated work force

• By 1928, 79 of the black work force, and 79 of
  the mexican work force held unskilled labor
  positions. Only 26 of the white work force held
  unskilled positions.
• Following, the black workers earned only 85 cents
  perhour for every 1 that their white
  counterparts earned.
• third, the unskilled labor positions held the
  highest health hazard exposures, however the
  lowest wages.

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Executive justifications

• Mexicans toiled in the heat of the open hearth
  ovens because they were thought to be more
  suited for the heat .
• Blacks braved the coke ovens because
  negroes shine in the coke oven work where
  there is much dust, etc. (a u.s. steel
  executive)
• negroes are nice, simple people. I dont
  approve of using them for skilled work. Let them
  scramble for the unskilled jobs. ( a calumet
  steel executive, 1945 )

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Population trends

• Between 1940 and 1970, garys african american
  population went from 18 to 53. However, the
  increase in overall population only changed
  slightly. More blacks werent necessarily moving
  to gary, but rather whites were leaving.
• As the post-war extended boom came to an end in
  the 60s the domestic industrial sector declined.
  
• Simultaneously, professional services and retail
  began moving to the suburbs. The white
  population both led and followed.

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Garys new mayor

• By 1967, gary elected one on the first black
  mayors in the nation, richard hatcher. Despite,
  the majority black population, hatchers election
  was not accepted well. Even more businesses
  relocated outside of gary.
• The 1970 census showed the first population
  decline in gary since its conception.
• Due to political pressure, the state of indiana
  removed highway signs directing drivers to gary.
• Despite, hatchers opponents he was able to
  attract over 300 million from the federal govt.
  for various redevelopment projects.

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Garys decline

• Despite hatchers extensive efforts to revitalize
  garys economy, one constraint held strong. Gary
  was built on the steel industry and although the
  industry itself did not suffer a decline,
  technological advancements resulted in a lowered
  need for a manned workforce. The number of steel
  jobs fell from 30,000 in 1974 to fewer thAN 6,000
  BY 1987.
• SUBSEQUENTLY, THE RETAIL SECTOR SUFFERED A
  DECLINE AS WELL. GARY BEGAN TO BE FILLED WITH
  BOARDED UP STOREFRONTS.

photos, www.darkpassage.com/postmortems/gary.htm
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So back to the steel industry and pollution

• Where did it go ?

Well
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The pollution stayed
Garys skyline, www.chicagostudio.com
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Understanding garys pollution

• It is important to understand the magnitude of
  pollution to air, water, and land due to steel
  production. Lets look at a map of the area
  encompassed by the steel production.

The green line outlines the industrial area of
gary, www.in.gov/doc/assistance/gary.htm
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Understanding garys pollutioncont.

• What are the pollutants ?
• I mentioned a few before, but heres the largely
  incomplete list of past and current solid, liquid
  and gas emissions
• aluminum, ammonia, anthracene, benzene,
  calcium cyanamide, copper compounds, cyanide
  compunds, ethylbezene, hydrocholorun acid, lead
  compounds, maganese compounds, molybdenum
  trioside, naphthalane, phenol. The list goes on
  and on.
• Well, Im sure these toxins are under control. It
  is the year 2004 Heres a current chart.

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Lets Take a look
A comprehensive table of toxins, www.rtk.net
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Lead high risk areas

• The high risk areas are mostly in gary, in
  comparison to the rest of the entire state.
• If you recall the industrial zoning map of gary,
  the majority of the high risk areas border the
  steel facilities.

www.ikecoalition.org
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How do these toxins reach people ?

• Air pollutants are carried from the factories
  through smoke and vapor. They are in the air
  that people breathe.
• Ground pollutants, no matter how carefully
  contained, can leach or leak through their
  containment systems into water sources or
  directly into the earth that people might either
  come in direct or indirect contact with. Food
  grown in contaminated soil can affect those who
  consume it.
• Water pollution can affect both the drinking
  water supply directly and the food chain supply
  through aquatic life.

www.gary.in.us/visitgary.asp
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Whos at risk ?

• The entire population of gary is at risk.
  However, its important to understand what garys
  population encompasses.
• Current data shows that slighlty over 80 of
  garys population is african american. Around
  30 of the population is below the national
  poverty status guidline.

www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/steel
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Health impacts

• While the potential health hazards have been
  carefully identified through hundreds of studies,
  there is no to little data on the actual impacts.
  
• I contacted the director of the northwest indiana
  environmental justice resource center, tim
  sutherland, a number of times looking for
  specific data. I was interested in current and
  past cancer rates, asthma rates, etc. He had no
  information for me. In fact a group of nursing
  students at the university is currently working
  on getting a grant to do such research. I was
  shocked to find out that a city that during wwII
  was the most polluted city in the nation had no
  health impact data. Currently, uss gary works is
  amongst the top ten stationary sources of
  pollution in the nation. At one point, it was
  the leader, yet no health impact data. Hmmmm ?

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Why no data?

• The hospitals wont release the data for
  confidentiality reasons. but the real problem is
  lack of funding. There are many environmental
  and community organizations advocating for
  citizens of Gary, but theyre all volunteer
  based. We need federal money, and no ones been
  able to get any.
• 
  
  tim sutherland

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assumptions

• We can probably guess a few of the reasons why
  there is no federal money going to research in
  gary.
• 1. Uss gary steel works is the largest steel
  manufacturer in the country. Therefore, probably
  holding a lot of political lobbying power.
• 2. Gary holds no other corporate
  headquarters, essentially translating to no other
  capital.
• 3. Garys residents are poor, undereducated
  african americans, the group most commonly pushed
  to the wayside.
• 4. Activists are scarce in gary.
• These are my own assumptions, not based on
  empirical data.

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Current actions

• Uss gary steel works isnt fooling the epa.
  Having already won a lawsuit against the company
  for illegal dumping in the calumet river, the epa
  is monitoring as much as possible.
• Uss gary steel works is currently in
  non-attainment status of epa ground-level ozone
  requirements.
• Gary and the grand calumet area has been
  recognized as an area for great concern by the
  epa in regards to water pollution. Efforts to
  remedy the situation have been ongoing since the
  early 90s.
• Unfortunately, u.s.s. gary works can afford to
  pay fines rather than meet environmental
  standards. This pattern will inevitably continue.
  

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• on our way to chicago, we just
• passed through this town, Gary?
  Joe Joseph
• Crazy place, a lot of the buildings
  1122 elm
• are boarded up, the whole town
  somewhere else
• smells. There must be over a dozen
• factories. Isnt Michael Jackson from
• Gary? What happened to this town ?
• People shouldnt live here. Its not right.

www.thepostcard.com
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Sources

• Catlin, Robert. (1993) Racial Politics and Urban
  Planning Gary, Indiana 1980-1989. Lexington,
  Kentucky, University Press of Kentucky
• Chicago studio online. www.chicagostudio.com ,
  4/16/04
• Delta Institute Website. Pollution Prevention
  Initiative Voluntary Agreement
  www.delta-institute.org/publications/mercuryagreem
  ent.pdf, 3/05/04Mercury
• Emagazine Website. Cities that Smell
  www.emagazine.com, 2/15/04
• Environmental Protection Agency Website.
  Brownfields Job Training and Development
  Demonstration Pilot www.epa.gov.go/brownfields/pdf
  jtgary.pdf, 3/07/04
• Fuller, Henry. (1907) An Industrial Utopia
  Building Gary, Indiana, to Order. Harpers
  Weekly. October 12 p.1482-1483, 1495
• Greer, Edward. (1979) Big Steel Black Politics
  and Corporate Power in Gary, Indiana. Indiana,
  Monthly Press Review
• Gary, indiana website. www.gary.in.us/visitgary.as
  p , 4/4/04
• Hurley, Andrew. (1995) Environmental
  Inequalities Class, Race, and Industrial
  Pollution in Gary, Indiana 1945-1980. North
  Carolina, University of Carolina Press

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sourcescont.

• 10. . Improving kids environment.
  www.ikecoalition.org , 4/16/04
• 11. Indiana dept. of revenue.
  www.in.gov/doc/assistance/gary.htm , 4/16/04
• 12. Indiana university digital library.
  www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/steel, 2/15/04
• 13. State of Indiana Website.
  Industrialization and Air Pollution
  www.state.in.us/nrc_dnr/lakemichigan/airqual/airqu
  al.html, 3/05/04
• 14. Northwest Indiana Environmental
  Justice Resource CenterWebsite.
  www.iun.edu/lib/justice.htm, 2/15/04
• 15. Postcards. www.thepostcard.com ,
  4/16/04
• 16. Preserve indiana.. www.preserveindiana.
  com , 2/15/04
• 17. Rtk network. www.rtk.net , 4/02/04
• 18. Urban post mortems. www.darkpassage.com
  /poatmortems/gary.htm 2/15/04
• 19. U.S. Gary Steel Works Photograph
  Collection 1906-1971. Indiana University website.
  http//www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/steel/con
  text/text/06.html 3/3/04
• 20. Waylon brinck online gallery.
  www.waylon-art.com, 4/4/04
•