Our Communities:
Beacon on the bay as a good neighbor

Called "The Land of Pleasant Living," Maryland is a good place to live and work, and we would like to see it stay that way. As a beacon on the bay, Sparrows Point has a commitment to be a good citizen and neighbor.

The division's economic impact is among the highest in Maryland, with some $1-billion returned indirectly each year to our communities in the form of paychecks, pensions, purchases and taxes.

Sparrows Point has a long tradition of cooperation with our communities. Some interesting examples include:

• re-using waste water from Baltimore City's treatment plant;
• furnishing a used acid-based steel cleaning solution to municipal waste water treatment facilities for the reduction of phosphates;
• transferring our 1,300-acre Black Marsh wetlands property to the state for a park;
• helping reduce growing pressure on municipal landfills by educating officials and residents on steel can recycling;
• working with transportation officials to improve the Baltimore Beltway system where it crosses Sparrows Point;
• promoting economic development with Baltimore County in the establishment of an industrial park at Sparrows Point;
• helping revitalize the local economy through support of the Eastern Baltimore Area Community Development Corporation;
• allowing local, state and national law enforcement groups to destroy thousands of guns annually in the steel furnaces.

Sparrows Point and its employees have a significant stake in the quality of our educational and health institutions, where the division earmarks contributions. Local colleges work with us to train our employees in electronic, computer and mechanical technologies. We have been cooperating with a local vocational high school, providing our first internship to a high school student in 1996.

Our customers, too, have worked with us in donating materials and services for everything from a bridge-building competition or design-and-build nomadic building module for local college engineering students, to steel framing for a hurricane-devastated Florida community.

Environmental 'Champion'

As a good neighbor, the division's most notable achievements have improved the environment. Bethlehem has been honored as a "Champion" by the EPA and a national magazine for greatly reducing the emission of 17 high-priority toxic chemicals. One of 21 companies recognized among the 1,300 participants in the voluntary program, Bethlehem has reduced toxic emissions by 88% compared to the base year of 1988, and about 67% of that decrease was accomplished at Sparrows Point.

Bethlehem also was the first steel company in the world to endorse the demanding environmental code of the Coalition of Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), a national coalition of environmental groups and socially responsible investors. In signing the agreement, Bethlehem committed itself to following CERES' guidelines and, in turn, CERES endorsed our environmental policies as being consistent with its principles.

At Sparrows Point, water coming in contact with the manufacturing process and requiring treatment before being discharged has been reduced by more than 50% over the last decade by new operational practices and recycling. New controls include a facility to remove chromium from water and a high-density sludge removal system for the blast furnace and sinter plant. The division's large waste water treatment facility has been modernized.

Our environmental policy is straightforward:

"We will comply with all environmental laws and regulations applicable to the conduct of our business. As a good corporate citizen, we are dedicated to the continuous improvement of the environment in which we all live."

To implement this policy, we made a significant investment in environmental control equipment to meet Maryland and federal requirements. At Sparrows Point, $67-million was invested in environmental capital improvements from 1991 to 1995. The division spends about $40-million annually to operate environmental control equipment.

Waste Not, Want Not

A steel plant is a giant recycling facility. From ecological and business standpoints, recycling makes good sense and benefits both Sparrows Point and our communities. Among materials in the nation's waste stream, steel is the most recycled. Sparrows Point's furnaces use about one million tons of steel scrap annually, including thousands of pounds of post-consumer steel cans.

In Maryland, we are fortunate that progress is in harmony with livability. Captain John Smith, exploring the Chesapeake Bay in 1608, reported the discovery of "...a rich and bountiful land..." It remains so today.

Enthusiasm For Sharing

Our employees at individual mills and operations have favorite causes they support, particularly during holidays. There are two, however, that earn the enthusiasm of employees throughout the entire division - United Way of Central Maryland and Harvest For The Hungry.

Though there are fewer employees, they stand staunchly behind United Way and have generously increased their individual contributions during spirited annual campaigns. Sparrows Point employees, retirees and Bethlehem Steel donate nearly $1-million per year to United Way organizations.

With gate collections at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and special fund-raising events during the year, members of the United Steelworkers of America raise thousands of dollars annually for Harvest For The Hungry and the Maryland Food Bank.