By Associated Press
Mount Vernon, AL – Scores of residents braved an evening thunderstorm to attend an open house hosted by ThyssenKrupp (TISS-en-krup) at the Mount Vernon Community Center.
Some residents came looking for jobs Monday night, others wanted answers about the 3-point-7 (b) billion dollar steel mill's potential affect on rural life.
The German steelmaker has begun clearing trees on a 35 hundred-acre site in the Calvert community, a few miles north on U.S. 43, making way for one of the biggest industrial projects in the world.
ThyssenKrupp announced in May plans to build a mill that would employ 29-thousand construction workers over the next three years and 27 hundred full-time steelworkers when it opens for production in early 2010.
A Thyssenkrupp executive said site evaluations are underway and the company recently opened a project management office in Mobile.
Jobseekers and potential suppliers who attended the event were steered to the company's Web site.
Citizens concerned about noise and pollution were assured the mill would meet air and water quality regulations. Company executives also said noise levels would be minimal beyond the plant's boundary.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)