Arcelor Mittal shortlisted for anti-green award

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- "Steel giant Arcelor Mittal's Vanderbijlpark plant has been shortlisted for an infamous international environmental award to be announced alongside the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos this week... The Indian steel giant Arcelor Mittal was nominated for a number of reasons, including that it was not only the largest, but also the filthiest steelworks in South Africa,"

-- Eleanor Momberg, Sunday Independent.

ArcelorMittal’s polluting South African plant shortlisted for Public Eye Global Award in Davos at World Economic Forum

ZAGREB, Croatia -- "The Luxembourg steel giant ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel company has been shortlisted along with five other candidates for the Public Eye Global Award to be held in Davos, Switzerland, on the 27th January – the opening day of the World Economic Forum. The company has been selected from over 40 nominees due to its heavily polluting operation in Vanderbijlpark, which is their biggest and most profitable operation in South Africa. The nomination recognises the company’s toxic waste dumping; failure to clean up contamination in neighbourhoods around its steelworks; lobbying against stricter air pollution controls and withholding information from the public that will allow society to better understand the impact of the plant on their health and well-being. The general public can cast votes at www.publiceye.ch until 26th January,"

-- press release, Global Action on ArcelorMittal.

Mittal dismisses pollution claims in South Africa

VANDERBIJLPARK, South Africa -- "Strike Matsepe used his life savings to buy a small plot of land near the country's biggest steel mill, hoping it would become a thriving farm in his old age. Now, weathered and sick, the 80 year old has had to abandon his dream -- the land and ground water are so polluted his cattle have died and crops failed. On Friday, ArcelorMittal SA, the world's largest steel marker, dismissed allegations of severe environmental damage and unethical business practices at the mill. In 2002, the company took over the 67-year-old plant that residents and environmental groups say has polluted their live,"

-- Celean Jacobson, Associated Press.

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Arcelormittal South Africa says worker dies after blast

JOHANNASBERG, South Africa -- "Arcelormittal South Africa Ltd, a unit of the world's top steelmaker, said a worker at its Vanderbijlpark plant died on Monday from injuries sustained after an explosion on Saturday, but operations had since resumed. Arcelormittal did not say how much production was lost as a result of the accident, which forced the suspension of operations at the furnace until Monday. It said it had started an investigation into the cause of the blast. The company said the fatality was its first this year following two fatalities in 2007 and two in 2008,"

-- Shapi Shacinda, Reuters.

ArcelorMittal under fire as activists demand clean-up

200 people marched to protest Mittal Steel pollution in Vanderbijlpark.

CAPETOWN, South Africa -- "A coalition of activists targeted ArcelorMittal at its annual general meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, to mark the start of a campaign that aims to mould the world's biggest steel maker into a more responsible global corporate citizen. The coalition's strategy appears to be one of embarrassing ArcelorMittal's senior international management to the extent that it will take a hand in improving local conditions across nine countries. Two South African representatives were among those present to highlight ArcelorMittal South Africa's poor environmental legacy at its Vanderbijlpark facility," Ingi Salgado, Business Report & Independent.