Bethlehem Steel Corporation
For Immediate Release

Burns Harbor, Ind., June 28, 2001 � The Town of Burns Harbor, Indiana, today broke ground on a municipal sanitary sewer system, a project the town and Bethlehem Steel have been working on cooperatively since 1999.

After negotiations failed to gain access to sewage treatment facilities operated by neighboring communities, the town began studying the feasibility of building and operating its own sewage treatment plant. As an alternative, Bethlehem Steel, the town�s largest taxpayer, offered to explore the feasibility of a joint arrangement utilizing the Burns Harbor Division�s sanitary wastewater treatment plant which it owns and operates to serve the division�s 5600 employees.

Following a comprehensive engineering and financial review, it was determined that the most cost effective solution for the town and the company would be for Bethlehem and the town to create a partnership to share the facility. Under the terms of a pending agreement, Bethlehem will sell the treatment plant and about 3 acres to the town. The town will expand the treatment plant, at a cost of $1.2 million, to establish sufficient capacity for projected growth in the town for the next 20 years. As part of the agreement, the town agrees to treat the Burns Harbor Division�s sanitary wastewater for a minimum of 20 years and Bethlehem agrees to operate the treatment plant for the town for the same period of time.

The town has recently issued $8.1 million in bonds to pay for the cost of installing a collection system within the town to transport the waste to the treatment plant. Grimmer Construction has been awarded the contract for the collection system and Bowen Engineering Corporation has been awarded the contract for expansion of the treatment plant. The planned completion of the project is 2003.

At today�s groundbreaking ceremony onsite, Ron Chango, president, Burns Harbor Division said, �this project will enhance the quality of life for the residents of the community and is crucial to the town�s ability to attract new residential, commercial and light industrial development. The town�s success is our success,� said Chango. �We share the town�s vision for a growing Burns Harbor.�

Town Council President, Cliff Keppen, commented that, �partnering with Bethlehem made the project�s capital and operating costs affordable for the town�s 300 households.� #

For More Information Contact: Bethlehem Steel Corporation Robert W. Bilheimer - (610) 694-3711 Bethlehem Steel Corporation � Burns Harbor Division Clarence J. Ehlers - (219) 787-3423 Town of Burns Harbor, Ind. Esther Nickell - (219) 787-9413

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