New Jobs Coming To U.S. Steel Site In Falls

FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — A Conshohocken-based metals company plans a new operation on the former U.S. Steel site in Falls Township that will create 60-70 new jobs, according to township officials.

Supervisors this week approved land development plans for MM Metals USA, which is creating a "new operation" on nearly four acres at the site.

Michael Meginniss, an attorney for the company, said plans call for building a 2,844-square-foot office, laboratory and workshop building, a 15,120-square-foot building with silos a substation and a heat exchanger for the manufacturing of ferrochrome, an alloy used to make stainless steel.

There also will be a 10,000-square-foot building for making aluminum, he said.

MM Metals would work around the clock, but wouldn't have overnight truck storage, loud noise or impacts on water or air, according to Meginniss, who spoke to supervisors during the board's virtual meeting on Monday.

He said the company would be handling aluminum scrap, lime and ferrochrome and would not be working with radioactive or contaminated materials.

"We did go through the EPA process. We were approved," Meginniss said. "There was no negative impact from an environmental standpoint and no loud noises on site."

Ferrochrome, a type of alloy between chromium and iron, is used in jet engines, according to Meginniss. The Department of Defense keeps 30,000 tons of ferrochrome in stockpile, he said, adding that MM Metals will produce 18,000 tons annually.

Once the Falls operation is open, the company would be the "only domestic producer of this material," he said.

Supervisors on Monday also approved an amended land development plan for Gelest Realty to build a 550-square-food accessory building on their nearly 7-acre parcel at New Ford Mill Industrial Park.