Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription, on Patreon, or on Stripe. Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.
MIDDLETOWN, OH — Cleveland-Cliffs and the Department of Energy announced plans to continue the use of coal at Cleveland-Cliffs’ Middletown Works steel mill today, abandoning previously announced plans to transition toward clean energy. The company was originally selected in March 2024 for up to $500 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to replace Middletown’s coal-fired blast furnace with a 2.5-million-tonne hydrogen-ready Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) plant and two electric melting furnaces.
“Almost every day my home and property, as well as my neighbors, are bombarded by fallout, noise, and toxic emissions. Cleveland-Cliffs and JD Vance need to get rid of coal and go back to the original project that would clean up the air we breathe and improve our health. Extending the life of the coal furnace will continue to harm me, my family and my neighbors,” said Donna Balinger, a Middletown resident who lives 800ft from the plant.
