WINDSOR -- The United States Steel Corporation has announced plans to shut down most of a plant on Zug Island that has long been suspected as the source of the Windsor Hum.
The company said Thursday it intends to indefinitely idle a significant portion of its Great Lakes Works operation near Detroit.
The company expects to begin idling the iron and steelmaking facilities around April 1, 2020, and the Hot Strip Mill rolling facility before the end of 2020.
U.S. Steel said these actions advance the company’s “best of both” strategy and better align the company around its core assets within its North American Flat-Rolled operating segment.
The company says it will be issuing Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices to about 1,545 employees at Great Lakes Works, although they anticipate the final number of employees who will be impacted by the idling will be lower.
The United Steelworkers have been notified of the decision, and the company says it will remain in contact with them as it determines staffing needs at the portions of the facility that will remain operational.
The impact this could have on the Windsor Hum is unknown, but a 2014 study concluded the noise was coming from across the Detroit River on Zug Island.
The hum has been compared to the sound of an idling truck. It's an issue that first gained attention more than six years ago.
