Idled steel plant needs attention

Republic Steel may have ceased operations in Lorain, but it still has an obligation to maintain its sprawling plant along East 28th Street. If the findings of an aerial survey conducted by a city-owned drone that showed collapsing roofs on some of the buildings in the 435-acre property are any indication, the company has some work to do. What the drone showed was enough to prompt representatives from the city's Building, Housing and Planning; Engineering; Utilities; Fire; and Police departments on Thursday to execute a search warrant to check for violations. Lorain Public Health also joined in on the search. The photos they released showed piles of debris, graffiti, overgrown vegetation and numerous other issues. A final report detailing what the search found was expected to be completed later this week. That report will be forwarded to the city's Law Department and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for review. They will determine what, if any, violations should be prosecuted. All in all, city officials painted a pretty bleak picture of what Republic left behind when it idled the factory in 2016. Yes, a small crew worked beyond that time, but apparently it wasn't enough to maintain the factory. Over the years, there have been hopes that Republic would bring the plant back online, but those never panned out. That doesn't excuse letting the plant fall apart. Mayor Jack Bradley said last week's search was designed to get the company's attention. "We've been trying to call them for over a year with no return calls," he said. "No more radio silence. … You can't come into a city and operate, make profits, and then when you decide not to operate any longer, leave the mess to the city." Republic didn't respond last week to a request for comment from our reporter Carissa Woytach. The company also owed $22,375 in unpaid water and sewer bills to the city. We doubt such problems would be acceptable for any other property owner in the city, and Republic should be held to the same standard. "We're going to be aggressive, not just on the little guys, but we're going to make sure that the big guys are responsible for what they do," Bradley said. This isn't the first time this year that Republic's Lorain plant has found itself under scrutiny. The company reached a $700,000 settlement in January with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act for what regulators said was the illegal discharge of pollutants into the Black River. The lawsuit said the company had violated clean-water regulations not only in Lorain, but at its Canton plant. The company agreed to address the issues, according to court documents. It would be better if Republic were to reopen its Lorain plant, but based on the court filings in the Clean Water Act case, that seems unlikely. Those documents said that the company "certifies that the Lorain Facility will remain idled with no current plans for resumption of activities." (The Canton plant had been "permanently shutdown.") Environmental concerns and suspected code violations aren't the only reasons Lorain was right to take action. City officials eventually would like to see the old steel mill turned into something else, although what that would be and how long it would take is anyone's guess. Any redevelopment project would likely have to contend with environmental issues at the site, which has been home to a steel mill dating to the 1890s. The extent of any environmental issues is not fully known. The city and Republic would both be well served to cooperate, perhaps even working together to obtain federal brownfield money to deal with environmental cleanup if necessary. The days of the steel industry that helped build Lorain might be waning, but that doesn't mean Republic can't still be a good neighbor by maintaining its property. And, if the company has no plans to bring the plant back online, it should work with the city on what comes next.