CHARLOTTE, NC - The opening of the Nucor iron plant in St. James will be delayed until year's end, the company announced Thursday.
The announcement was made a day after a storage dome collapsed at the site, which had been preparing for an opening in a few weeks.
Pictures supplied by The Poche Post show the collapsed dome on the site. Nucor steel officials confirm that the storage dome is used to hold raw materials in this case iron ore pellets.
Luckily when it collapsed, no one was hurt.
The St. James Parish Sheriff's Office says it initially responded to a call of an explosion around 3:30 p.m. Sheriff Willy Martin said no hazardous materials leaked out of the dome and there was no threat to the community. The direct-reduced iron plant isn't up and running yet.
'Commissioning that's where you test the equipment and get things running,' said Plant Manager Lester Hart regarding an update on the plant's opening.
Nucor Corporation chose the St. James Parish site back in 2010, which is the first phase of a $750 million investment. The goal to create a $3.4 billion complex employing about 1200 people.
