EAST CHICAGO | Three contract workers were injured Friday in an explosion in the slag pit at ArcelorMittal's Indiana Harbor East plant.
Two of the workers were airlifted to a Chicago hospital, said East Chicago spokesman Damian Rico. But no information on their identities, injuries or conditions was available Monday.
The injured workers are employed by one of the three subcontractors working at the blast furnace No.7 slag pit, said Tom Hargrove, president of United Steelworkers Local 1010, which represents the plant's workers.
Although none of his members were injured, the union is participating in the ongoing investigation of the explosion "to make sure it doesn't happen again," Hargrove said
One of the injured men is employed by Lafarge Corp., which has the contract to remove slag from the plant. The company uses slag, which is a waste by-product of the steelmaking process, to make concrete.
