Found these on my Facebook feed this AM. Some very cool slag train pictures. These are from South of Pittsburgh. There is a mall there now where these were taken.
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Awesome!
Very COOOOLLLLL!!!!
BobbyD posted:Great images, was it an EPA superfund site to clean up prior to the shopping center being constructed?
That mall was built in the late 70s, early 80s. Not sure if the EPA involvement back then.
BobbyD posted:
Actually if this is steel slag then no.
Steel slag is actually quite non hazardous...
IRON and STEEL SLAGS- -NON-HAZARDS
A Special Report from the National Slag Association
Allegations of iron and steel making slags
being "hazardous" are the subject of
numerous files in the National Slag Association office dating back to the 1920's.
Federal Register Explanation
The Federal Register, Vol. 45, No. 98,
May 19, 1980, lists the substances ruled
hazardous by EPA. On page 33124,
four steel-industry substances were listed.
These were identified to EPA by a consulting firm requested to examine all steel-
industry products, including slag, to determine which were hazardous under EPA
criteria. Slag was tested by EPA standards and found to be non-hazardous.
Memories
Seems to me it was in the 60's that I was on rte 51, at night, and the dumping was spectacular
Slag dumping was old hat when I was much, much younger. I lived in that area we watched it a lot. Once my buddy and I hiked to the area and watched them dump at night fro about 100 yds away. At one time slag was used in construction and fill. No one knew the word "hazardous" then.
At the Nucor plant in Jewitt TX, they sell the slag which results in trucks daily moving material out. I believe the price is around 8 dollars per ton, plus transportation. It is commonly used to on roads and what not. This is fairly common for most mills. It's cheap, stable, environmentally friendly, and plentiful.
Lionel has some nice slag cars...
Great Pictures and very good. That would make a nice display. Anyone have more slag shots as well?
Certain slags are not permitted in Pennsylvania for road and paving construction. It tends to expand over time and heaves pavements.
It can also be used for concrete as an aggregate but it's strength is questionable.
As a small boy growing up in Weirton, WV, I watched a lot of slag being moved. At my maternal grandfather's house, we watch huge Autocar diesel dump trucks haul slag out of the mill. An entrepreneur named Mike Starvaggi had the hauling contract for slag. He owned some land, a ravine actually, where the slag was dumped. My mother played in that ravine as a child. By the time I was born, that ravine had become a mountain (of slag). The dump trucks would wind up the hill and dump at the top.
I also watched slag trains - 
an Alco S-2 with 10-20 slag thimbles and a caboose - move this waste to Standard Slag. Slag is useful in concrete making, as fill, and other uses. It has a smell, but I don't think it's dangerous (don't quote me).
This is my take on Standard Slag.
George
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Thanks for posting these.. I remember the trains dumping as a kid, especially at night.
