For Immediate Release

Public Relations Division
Public Affairs Department
1170 Eighth Avenue
Bethlehem, PA 18016-7699
(610) 694-3711 - Phone
(610) 694-1509 - Fax

BETHLEHEM, Pa., July 9, 1999 -- In response to media inquiries concerning the announcement today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the inclusion of certain Bethlehem Steel Corporation properties on the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act's Corrective Action Program baseline list of facilities, the following statement was provided:

Bethlehem Steel Corporation has been working cooperatively and is making steady progress to achieve the goals announced today by the EPA for the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Program.

The goals announced today will affect about 1,700 industrial sites, including some of Bethlehem Steel's operating facilities and properties on which the corporation formerly made steel. The RCRA Corrective Action program addresses environmental clean-up issues, both at ongoing operations as well as at sites on which industrial processes formerly took place.

Said Curtis H. Barnette, chairman and chief executive officer, Bethlehem Steel:

"The new RCRA clean-up reforms and goals announced today by the EPA will allow for the measurement of progress to address environmental clean-up issues in a streamlined, common sense manner that will expedite those clean-up activities and thereby help ensure protection of human health and the environment. This new process will also help property owners, like Bethlehem, that meet the goals to more quickly return former industrial properties to productive use while ensuring that the property is being effectively remediated. We will continue to work closely with the various federal and state environmental agencies to ensure that these goals are attained."

For several years, Bethlehem Steel has been working closely with state and federal environmental officials to ensure that its corrective action obligations are met. Bethlehem has done this in conjunction with its activities to develop new uses for its former industrial sites as well as to continue to ensure a safe and healthful environment for its employees and the communities in which the corporation has ongoing operations. "These new attainment goals for the RCRA program will help Bethlehem achieve its objective of good corporate citizenship by striking the appropriate balance between site clean-up and site redevelopment," Mr. Barnette said.

In EPA's Region 3, the steelmaker is developing 163 acres -- aptly named Bethlehem Works -- at its former Bethlehem plant site into a cultural, educational and recreational center. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA have formed a partnership with Bethlehem whereby the corporation has addressed all its federal and state corrective action requirements at the Bethlehem Works site through the use of Pennsylvania's innovative voluntary clean-up program entitled "Act 2." In a recent visit to the site, Tim Fields, Acting Assistant Administrator for EPA's Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Program declared that the site is a "national model" for the remediation and development of former industrial sites.

In addition to the 163-acre Bethlehem Works project, Bethlehem Steel is also working to develop the remaining 1,600 acres at the former Bethlehem plant into the Bethlehem Commerce Center, on which transportation, distribution, warehousing and light industrial businesses will be located. "This large tract will utilize the partnership formed at the Bethlehem Works site to address the EPA's new performance standards to promote the dual goals of site clean-up and site redevelopment and reuse," Bethlehem Steel's chairman said.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Bethlehem Steel is working on plans to help accelerate redevelopment of its Johnstown properties that have not already been sold to help promote future uses. In Steelton, where Bethlehem continues to operate its Pennsylvania Steel Technologies business, corrective measures have been completed in accordance with EPA standards and those of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection involving both existing facilities and those that have been closed.

In 1997, Bethlehem entered into a "multi-media" agreement with the EPA and Maryland's Department of the Environment (MDE) to comprehensively address environmental issues at Bethlehem's Sparrows Point Division. This agreement includes timetables that satisfy the new RCRA goals for the attainment of key solid waste remediation milestones.

Likewise, at Bethlehem's facilities in Lackawanna, N.Y., and in Burns Harbor, Ind., environmental investigations pursuant to the RCRA Corrective Action Program have been proceeding for a number of years. Currently, Bethlehem is having discussions with EPA Region 5 officials to determine how best to implement a streamlined process to achieve the goals announced today at Burns Harbor. "We believe that actions taken today by the EPA represent a win for the environmental agencies, the affected industries and the local communities where they reside," stated Mr. Barnette.