Stewardship through Partnerships

In 1994, Bethlehem Steel reaffirmed its commitment to safety and health performance and to environmental compliance by issuing a comprehensive safety, health and environment plan. A year later the corporation endorsed the CERES Principles, which reinforces that commitment and demonstrates to the public, the communities in which we operate, the government and the rest of our stakeholders that we are committed to continuous improvement of, and public accountability for, our safety, health and environmental performance. These actions signify Bethlehem's commitment to stewardship. As an environmental steward, our environmental objectives include providing qualified personnel and resources to implement the company's environmental policy, plans and procedures; working with all levels of government to develop and implement comprehensive environmental programs; and supporting research objectives of the steel industry and others concerned with environmental quality improvement.We believe we can achieve these and some of our related environmental objectives by partnering with our employees, the communities in which we operate, customers/suppliers, nongovernment organizations, core environmental consultants, government organizations and research institutions. Such partnerships enable us to bring the best human resources, knowledge and ideas to bear on our stewardship of safety, health and environmental issues that are such an integral part of steelmaking.

Employee Partnerships

Bethlehem's most important partnership is with its employees. Our focus is on encouraging safe behavior and environmental consciousness and making safety a corporate value that must not be compromised. This partnership of employees, union and management from all of Bethlehem's business units spent many months meeting as a group and as smaller work groups to develop the current Employee Safety Process (ESP) described elsewhere in this report in the safety and health section.

Community Partnerships

Community Commitment Initiative (Sparrows Point Division)

The Sparrows Point Community Commitment Initiative (CCI) was started in the summer of 1996 to create a dialogue with communities surrounding the division. Its mission is “to cultivate a community relationship of respect and understanding through mutual involvement, communication and support.”

CCI held meetings with community leaders throughout the year to keep the community informed about various business and environmental issues that might be of interest or concern to the community. The CCI held a public meeting in October 1997 with the Maryland Department of Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to inform the community about the landmark multi-media consent agreement that had been reached at the Sparrows Point Division to resolve numerous historic environmental issues.

During the year, the CCI supported the community on a wide range of issues including concerns about lighting and trash along highways. The CCI also funded the production of collectable forest ranger cards featuring North Point State Park rangers offering conservation and environmental tips. The community and division have both benefitted from a better understanding of each other's concerns.

In July 1998, the CCI was awarded a Team Excellence Award by Roger Penny, Bethlehem's president and chief operating officer, for its accomplishments. As a result of CCI, Bethlehem Steel is perceived as responsive to the communities' needs and concerns, and a good neighbor.

Community Advisory Council (Burns Harbor Division)

Burns Harbor continued its involvement with formal community outreach programs including its Community Advisory Council (CAC). Burns Harbor's CAC is made up of about 20 representatives from a broad spectrum of interested citizen environmental groups, government bodies, the steelworkers' union, general business community, surrounding communities, and others. It is the first of its kind in the steel industry and served as a model for EPA's Common Sense Initiative to demonstrate to stakeholders in other communities the key elements of an effective community outreach program.

The mission of the CAC is “to facilitate improved environmental performance ... resulting in the enhancement of our community through... open discussion and free exchange of ideas.”

The Community Advisory Council is working with the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Save the Dunes Council, Hoosier Environmental Council and other organizations to address environmental issues of concern to the local communities and neighbors around the plant.

Customers/Suppliers Partnerships

As a major supplier of automotive steel to General Motors, Bethlehem was invited to become a member of GM's Supplier Environmental Advisory Team in 1997. The SEA Team discusses opportunities for collaboration with other GM suppliers to help GM meet its economic and environmental goals. Bethlehem's representatives on the team have met several times with GM and other suppliers to exchange ideas and support GM's efforts to promote sustainability and improved environmental performance in its supply chain.

Nongovernment Partnerships

Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES)

Bethlehem Steel Corporation became the first steel company to sign a Statement of Endorsement and Commitment to the CERES Principles on September 22, 1995. The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies is a non-profit membership organization composed of leading social investment professionals, environmental groups, religious organizations, pension trustees and public interest groups. Founded in 1989, CERES focuses its efforts on the various ways investors can help implement environmentally and financially sound investment policies and promote environmentally safe and sustainable practices in corporate America. The coalition represents more than 10 million people and over $150 billion in invested assets.

Bethlehem's association with CERES has helped, and will continue to help, the company improve its environmental performance and create an effective dialogue with key stockholders and other investors. www.ceres.org

The Nature Conservancy

Bethlehem Steel has worked twice with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to preserve ecological habitat and open space. In a three-way transaction involving Bethlehem, TNC and the state of Michigan, Bethlehem sold 10,245 acres of lake shore, pristine forest, lakes, ponds and rivers for permanent conservation in 1995. When added to other preserved shoreline, the Bethlehem property helped create 16 contiguous miles of lakeshore frontage that protects sandy beach, dunes, forest, marshland, the mouths of two rivers, parts of nine inland lakes, and a series of interdunal wetland communities that are home to Great Lakes wildlife. In 1987, Bethlehem sold 1,310 acres of marsh, woods and meadowland in a three-way transaction with TNC and the state of Maryland, resulting in creation of North Point State Park, one of the upper Chesapeake Bay’s largest remaining undisturbed natural areas. www.tnc.org

Core Environmental Consultants Partnerships

As part of its effort to serve its customers better and to Be the Premier Steel Company, Bethlehem Steel Corporation has selected three best-in-class environmental consulting firms for long-term supply of environmental services. The three Core Environmental Consulting Partners —Woodward-Clyde, CH2M Hill and McLaren/Hart — were selected from among 70 environmental firms following a two-year strategic sourcing study by Bethlehem. The innovative agreements with these firms will integrate them with Bethlehem in a partnership created for mutual benefit. Bethlehem and its consultants will support and complement each other to maximize their effectiveness in support of Bethlehem's mission.

Bethlehem expects long-term relationships with these firms to provide value-added services that will achieve the following objectives and benefits:

• Cost-effective processes and solutions
• Sustained continuous improvement for competitive advantage
• Improved regulatory compliance and performance
• Lower total environmental costs
• Innovation in environmental management practices
• Quick response with qualified people to shorten problem-solving time
• Consistent and continuing resources
• Fulfillment of Bethlehem's environmental needs
• Strategic relationships for internal Bethlehem customers to provide the best possible value in environmental management services
• Production efficiencies and increased quality
• Streamlined procurement procedures to eliminate non-value added activities
• Commitment to share risk and reward

The environmental services partnership mission is “to build a long-term relationship with our environmental partners that delivers value-added services that mutually benefit all partners, result in continuous improvement in total costs, enhance our competitive position and achieve Bethlehem's environmental policies and objectives.” The Vision is to Be the Premier Environmental Partnership in the industry.

Woodward-Clyde

Woodward-Clyde is presently providing environmental services to Bethlehem at the Johnstown and Lackawanna facilities concerning waste management and at PST concerning water. www.wcc.com

CH2M Hill

CH2M Hill is providing onsite air, water and waste management services to the Sparrows Point Division. www.ch2m.com

McLaren/Hart, Inc.

McLaren/Hart is currently working on environmental projects at the Burns Harbor and Sparrows Point Divisions. www.mclaren-hart.com

Government Partnerships

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 21st Century Environment Commission

The 21st Century Environment Commission was established by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge through Executive Order 1997-4 on July 1, 1997. It is composed of 40 members including: legislators; seven cabinet secretaries; the Physician General; representatives of industry, environmental organizations, the service sector, academia, builders, mining, farming and every level of local government.

Hank Barnette was appointed a Commissioner representing industry, and Gus Moffitt, Bethlehem's senior vice president and chief administrative officer, was appointed as his alternate.

The Commission will establish Pennsylvania's environmental priorities for the 21st Century by providing a better environment for future generations without inhibiting their ability to prosper. The Commission first developed a vision for Pennsylvania, identified existing problems, and set ambitious goals for the state. Five priority areas were selected: Promoting Responsible Land Use, Encouraging Conservation and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, Improving Human Health and Environmental Quality, Changing the Way We Do Business and Developing Environmental Stewardship. It then developed strategies to meet the selected environmental goals based on cost effective approaches, engaging the various levels of government, institutions and the private sector. The Commission also proposed a methodology to measure progress toward achievement of those goals.

Messrs. Barnette and Moffitt and several other Bethlehem employees have been actively involved with the 21st Century Environment Commission throughout the process to ensure that industry's views are adequately represented.

The recommendations of the Commission were submitted to Governor Ridge in September 1998. www.21stcentury.state.pa.us

Climate Wise

Bethlehem became the 400th participant and first integrated steel producer in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Wise Program in April 1998. Sponsored jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the EPA, Climate Wise is a unique government-industry partnership that helps businesses turn energy efficiency and environmental performance into a corporate asset. Through this voluntary program, Climate Wise partners improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money and boost productivity.

Some of the types of actions that Bethlehem Steel joins other Climate Wise companies in taking include the following:

• Optimizing boiler efficiency, improving air compressor systems, using and maintaining steam traps, and insulating piping and heat generating equipment
• Cogenerating, using renewable energy, eliminating waste heat, and reducing vehicle fleet and employee trips
• Engineering energy-efficient production processes, designing energy-efficient products, using recycled materials in products, developing products that are easy to recycle paper, glass, and soda cans and recycling waste streams www.epa.gov/climatewise/index.htm

WasteWise

Bethlehem joined the Environmental Protection Agency's WasteWise Program in May 1994 as a charter member and since then has recycled an estimated 2,648,570 pounds of material. The Corporate Office and Research Laboratories joined first and were followed by the business units over the next several years. WasteWise is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to eliminate municipal solid waste thereby saving money and helping the environment. Participants get to design their own reduction, reuse and recycling programs. Since 1994, Bethlehem has increased its waste prevention almost tenfold from 9,630 pounds to 91,160 pounds and its financial savings from $6,500 to $382,500. www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wstewise/index.htm

Common Sense Initiative (CSI)

The Environmental Protection Agency's Common Sense Initiative (CSI) examines the environmental requirements that impact on six industry sectors including iron and steel. Together these six sectors comprise more than 11 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, employ more than four million people and account for more than 12 percent of the toxic releases reported by U.S. industry.

The CSI program is a process in which EPA works with a team of stakeholders to change complicated and inconsistent environmental policies into comprehensive and workable environmental strategies. The iron and steel sector has focused on abandoned or idle industrial sites otherwise known as brownfield sites. Redevelopment would mean jobs and a healthier economy for communities around those sites, and less pressure to develop greenfields, or previously undeveloped properties.

The sector teams also work on other issues including the following:

• Promoting pollution prevention as a cost-effective alternative to clean-up
• Simplifying environmental reporting
• Seeking ways to help companies comply with and exceed legal requirements
• Improving the permitting process and encouraging broader public participation in that process
• Providing incentives and flexibility for industries to develop innovative technologies that will help them meet and exceed environmental standards while cutting costs
• Creating alternatives to current regulations that make greater environmental gains at less expense
• Creating systems that are more flexible, encourage innovation and are tailored to the industry's needs and problems www.epa.gov/commonsense

Ozone Action Partnership (Pa.)
www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/polycomm/update/05-30-97/053097u1.htm#E12E2

Ozone Action Days (Md.)
www.mde.state.md.us/arma/Programs/Aqplan/Ozone/actnday.html

Partners for Clean Air (Ind.)
www.ai.org/idem/oam/programs/partners/partners.html

Bethlehem facilities in Indiana, Maryland and Pennsylvania participate in seasonal government programs to reduce ozone. Our facilities inform employees about the ozone alerts and tell them how they as individuals can curtail emissions by restricting their use of vehicles, hand tools and other mechanical devices that produce emissions.

Motor Challenge

Motor Challenge is a U.S. Department of Energy voluntary partnership to increase industry's use of energy-efficient industrial electric motor-driven systems by adopting a systems approach to designing, purchasing, installing and managing motors, drives and motor-driven equipment. Participation in this program provides opportunities to reduce energy costs while improving steelmaking, improving competitiveness, and saving as much as 50 percent of energy consumed. www.motor.doe.gov/mcabout.htm

Steam Challenge

Steam Challenge is a new U.S. Department of Energy voluntary partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy and over 50 industry leaders, including Bethlehem Steel, to save energy and reduce costs at major industrial plants that use steam-powered systems. DOE's challenge kick-off was held at Bethlehem's Burns Harbor Division where DOE showcased savings opportunities including a steam improvement project that is saving over $3 million a year. Bethlehem spends more than $500 million annually for energy, which accounts for about 17 percent of the total cost to produce a ton of steel. www.doe.gov/doe/whatsnew/pressrel/pr98055.html

Research Partnerships

Bethlehem Steel's environmental objectives support research programs concerned with continuous improvement in the environment. To promote such research, Bethlehem Steel participates in the Hazardous Substance Management Research Center (HSMRC) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Headquartered at NJIT, the HSMRC is a consortium of six academic institutions.

The Center was founded in 1984 and has an annual budget of about $5 million with 15 industrial sponsors (including Bethlehem). It focuses on research, service and technology transfer. HSMRC promotes the latest in engineering management of hazardous waste through collaborative research with industry. Representatives from Bethlehem Steel work on research projects of current interest to the corporation with HSMRC's seven research divisions: biological and chemical treatment, health-effects assessment, incineration, monitoring and assessment, physical treatment, public policy and education, and site assessment and remedial action. www.hsmrc.org

Public/Private Partnerships

Bethlehem Steel is redeveloping two large properties that were used in the production of iron and steel products.In 1996, the corporation began an effort to redevelop the former Lehigh Division of the plant located in South Bethlehem. The initial redevelopment project focuses on 160 acres of historically significant structures that comprises the tract now known as Bethlehem Works. The cornerstone of the redevelopment will be the creation of the National Museum of Industrial History, a cooperative venture with the Smithsonian Institution slated to open in 2001 in the 1880s No. 2 machine shop. Also envisioned for that property are multi-plex movie theaters, ice skating rinks, a swimming and diving complex, and supporting retail structures. Enterprise Development Company, which was founded by the nationally recognized developer, James Rouse, is the master developer for this tract.

In addition to the 160 acres at the western edge of the plant that runs four and one-half miles along the Lehigh River, 1,600 acres in the former Saucon and East Lehigh Divisions are being readied for redevelopment. Those parcels will be offered as industrial and distribution properties to take advantage of their on-site infrastructure, particularly access to common carrier railroads, and proximity to major interstate highways.

Saratoga Associates, which has extensive experience in industrial redevelopment, played a major role in development of the project concept.

At Lackawanna, N.Y., the site of Bethlehem's former plant that ended its steelmaking operations in the 1980s, plans were revealed to the community in September 1998 for a 1,100-acre project that could result in recreation areas, business and industrial centers and a distribution and transshipment center. Saratoga will play a key role in development of the multi-use project.

Both projects are being developed as public/private partnerships involving local, state and federal officials as well as community organizations. Bethlehem, through its advisers, has provided the initial marketing, environmental and site preparation analysis and will work to ensure that both projects consider community interests and create jobs. Bethlehem is committed to remediation plans that adequately protect public health and the environment. The corporation has been working diligently with federal and state agencies, as well as with local authorities, to define and implement appropriate remediation plans.

1997/98 Environmental Report Table of Contents