Sharon Steel Corporation

Frank H. Buhl and associates broke ground for the Sharon Steel Co. plant in 1900 in the City of Farrell, Pennsylvania.

[4] In the late 1960s, the Farrell mill had around 10,000 employees, operating melt shops, blast furnaces, and open hearths.

In 1986, it was reported that Sharon Steel was in default on bond interest payments and that it was considering seeking protection from creditors.

[14] Financial losses forced the company to close in November 1992, and later that month file for bankruptcy a second time.

[14] In response to filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, it closed its large mill in Farrell in November 1992, as well as two steel finishing operations in Howard, Ohio.

The United Steelworkers of America had pushed for the designation of permanent closure to allow pension payments to 720 fired Sharon Steel workers.

[15] Under state law Act 47, Farrell was declared distressed after Sharon Steel, then its largest employer, filed for bankruptcy.

[16] After shutting its operations, Sharon Steel was unable to convince the bankruptcy court to resume production, and was sold in December 1994 to Caparo Group in the United Kingdom.

[17] The electric furnaces had been run by Caparo, until it sold much of its steel equpiment to Duferco Group in 1998 and ceased production.

[5] In 2024, the Farrell mill purchased slabs and rolled them into steel coils, but did not use either a blast or electric furnace.

Caparo Group owns the land next to Duferco, and demolished a number of antiquated Sharon Steel buildings around 2024.

In June 1983, Fairmont officials passed an ordinance targeted at Sharon, which banned the permanent disposal of hazardous waste in the city limits.

Sharon contested the law to higher courts, arguing it preempted state and federal regulations.