Zug Island

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Zug Island
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USGS aerial imagery of Zug Island
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Zug Island
Zug Island (Michigan)
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Zug Island
Zug Island (Michigan)
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Zug Island
Zug Island (the United States)
Geography
Location Detroit River, River Rouge, Michigan, U.S.
Coordinates 42°16′58″N83°06′41″W / 42.28278°N 83.11139°W / 42.28278; -83.11139
Area0.93 sq mi (2.4 km2)
Highest elevation571 ft (174 m)
Administration
United States
State Michigan
County Wayne
City River Rouge
Demographics
Population0 (permanent)
Zug Island, viewed from the Detroit River in May 2021 Zug Island (May 2021).jpg
Zug Island, viewed from the Detroit River in May 2021

Zug Island is a heavily industrialized island within the city of River Rouge at the southern city limits of Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located where the mouth of the River Rouge spills into the Detroit River. Zug Island is not a natural island in the river; it was formed when a shipping canal was dug along the southwestern side of the island, allowing ships to bypass several hundred yards of twisting waterway near the mouth of the natural course of the lowest portions of the River Rouge.

Contents

History

Originally a marsh-filled peninsula at the mouth of the River Rouge, it served as an uninhabited Native American burial ground for thousands of years. [1] Upon European arrival, the land was incorporated into Ecorse Township, making up the very northeast corner of the township. The beginning of interest in developing the land came when Samuel Zug, one of the founders of the Republican Party and a staunch abolitionist, came to Detroit from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1836 to make his fortune in the furniture industry with the money he earned as a bookkeeper. [2] [3] Shortly after, Marcus Stevenson, a Detroit financier, went into business with him.

The Stevenson & Zug Furniture Company flourished until 1859 when Samuel Zug, by then a rich man, dissolved the partnership. He decided to invest in real estate to provide security for his wife, Anna. Envisioning a luxurious estate on the Detroit River, Zug bought 325 acres (1.32 km2) of marshy land below Fort Wayne from the town of Delray in 1876. But the dampness was too much for the Zugs, and after 10 years they abandoned their home. [2]

In 1888, Zug allowed the River Rouge Improvement Company to cut a small canal through the south section of his property to more directly connect the Rouge River to the Detroit River. This Short Cut Canal, as it came to be known, was enlarged in the early 1920s by Henry Ford to allow large ships to more easily navigate to the Ford River Rouge Complex. [2] In 1891, Zug completed the largest real estate transaction of the decade[ among whom? ]: he sold his island for $300,000 ($10.2 million in 2023) to industries that wanted it as a dumping ground. [2]

Zug became interested in politics and served as Wayne County Auditor under Gov. John J. Bagley. He died in 1896 when he was 80.

Coke train, Zug Island, 2009. Coke train, Zug Island.jpg
Coke train, Zug Island, 2009.

Steel mill

The Detroit Iron Works brought ironmaking to Zug Island in 1901 with the commissioning of a blast furnace built in 1902. In 1904 the works was purchased by the M.A. Hanna Company of Cleveland, Ohio, which built a second blast furnace in 1909. At this time the island's two furnaces were reportedly the largest of their kind in the world, producing pig iron for foundry companies. The plant expanded and became part of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation in late 1931, becoming a key component of a fully integrated steel mill and a division of the larger National Steel Corporation. A third blast furnace was added in early 1938 while the existing furnaces were rebuilt and enlarged.

When National Steel became insolvent in 2003 most of the island's facilities were purchased, along with the rest of what is now called the Great Lakes Works, [4] by United States Steel, which currently operates the mill. The island is home to the mill's ironmaking facilities (the rest of the mill's facilities, primarily steelmaking and processing, are located at the main plant a few miles south in the city of Ecorse) which includes 3 blast furnaces ("A", "B" and "D") and raw materials storage areas. Ships supply large ore docks along the north ("1 Dock") and east ("3 Dock") shores of the island and large coal/coke/ore storage fields along the south and west ("B Area") shores. Number 5 Coke Battery located there, once an integral part of the mill, is independently owned and operated by EES Coke LLC, a DTE Energy company. Delray Connecting Railroad, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel company, also operates some rail facilities on the island. A "2-way" vehicle/rail bridge is the main access to the island. Secondary vehicle and rail bridges (the "Swing Bridge") at the southwestern corner of the island also allow mainland access.

Iron produced at Zug Island was transported in bottle cars via rail to steelmaking at the main plant while DTE's coke is shipped via rail to supply consumers, chiefly ISG/Mittal, in the merchant metallurgical market. During the industry's peak, thousands of workers were employed on the island with a large percentage of the downriver community supported by the local steel producer. Recently a few hundred people worked on the island with the hourly workers at U.S. Steel represented by United Steelworkers Local 1299. In fall of 2008 U.S. Steel halted its production due to the economic downturn, but restarted it in fall of 2009.

U.S. Steel announced in December 2019 that it would idle most of its operations in the area, including all of its operations on Zug Island, by April 2020. [5] Primary steelmaking activities shut down in April 2020, and the hot strip mill shut down in June of the same year, but in January 2021, the Detroit Free Press reported that there remained 500 employees working at the plant, and that "a few operations [were] ongoing — as long as demand will support them". [6] [ needs update ]

Wildlife

Despite the island's extremely developed industrial landscape, areas along the south and west shores are left undeveloped to provide habitat for wildlife. Foxes and once-endangered peregrine falcons, which frequent large outdoor structures such as the gantry cranes at the ore docks, thrive on the island and offshore. At the bottom of the Detroit River is a man-made bed of coal cinders which serves as a rare spawning site for lake sturgeon, a threatened species. Less desirable are the sizable and sometimes troublesome populations of gulls, feral cats and rats.

Environmental impact

View of Zug Island from the Delray neighborhood of Detroit ZugIslandFromDelray.jpg
View of Zug Island from the Delray neighborhood of Detroit

One of the most pressing problems in the neighborhoods surrounding Zug Island is poor air quality. According to an article in the January 20, 2010, edition of the Detroit Free Press, the neighborhoods around the area compose six of the ten most polluted zip codes in Michigan. In the article, residents cite air quality samples containing lead and high levels of methyl ethyl ketone, large numbers of cancer and asthma cases, and foul smells with "sparkly" dust that must be removed with toilet cleaner. [7] Interviewed separately, residents of the area say the foul smells are strong enough to cause dry heaves.

Noise and vibration

In 2011, the Zug Island area was identified by Canadian scientists and Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources as the source of mysterious rumblings and vibrations, known as "The Hum", that plagued hundreds of area residents with cyclical vibrations, reportedly being felt in the ground up to fifty miles (eighty kilometres) away. [8] [9] [10]

The city of River Rouge reported in the Star that it cannot afford to spend any more money on investigating the hum. They claim the City Council had already spent over $1 million to help Windsor and Ontario find the source of the noise. However, they say it likely comes from the steel mill facilities on the island. [11]

In April 2013, a Canadian scientist used sound-level meters and a portable "pentangular array" of cameras and microphones to try to accurately identify the source of the sound, in order to know whom exactly to ask to fix it. [12]

The results of the 2013 study were released on May 23, 2014. Although contemporaneous news reports claim the study confirmed that Zug Island was the source of the Hum, [13] [14] the report's findings actually stated "the most probable source of the Hum points well to the South of Zug Island. The bulk of our observations from both stations do not support the hypothesis that the source of the Hum emanates from Zug Island." [15]

Reports of the Hum ceased after the US Steel plant on Zug Island ceased operations in April 2020. [16]

In April 2024, an alleged former worker at Zug Island claimed in an r/IAmA thread that the plant's byproducts flare stacks were the origins of the hum. [17]

The island is mostly off-limits to the public. Cameras are prohibited on the premises, [18] so pictures of the island's interior are rare. Due to its location and relative security, many urban legends exist regarding the island. One popular legend claims that the island is home to a correctional facility or prison, but no such facility exists on the island. Another popular claim is that parts of the movie RoboCop were filmed there. The island is mentioned by name in the movie, but the steel mill shots in RoboCop were actually filmed at the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.'s Monessen Works in Pennsylvania. [19]

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald of Great Lakes shipwreck fame was laden with taconite destined for Zug Island on her fateful voyage in 1975. [20] [21]

In 2011, Detroit based author Gregory Fournier published his novel, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel. [22]

Zug Izland, a Detroit-based rock band in association with Insane Clown Posse, named themselves after the island and self describe their sound as "Juggalo Rock". ICP themselves have made references to Zug Island in their songs "The Shaggy Show", "In the Haughhh!" "Cotton Candy & Popsicles" and "Toxic Love". This is likely due to its proximity to the Delray/River Rouge area, where the members spent some of their youth. In fact, part of the island can be seen in the background of the cover photo for Insane Clown Posse (at the time, Inner City Posse)'s EP, Dog Beats .

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Steel</span> American steel-producing company

United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, including flat-rolled and tubular products for customers in industries across automotive, construction, consumer, electrical, industrial equipment, distribution, and energy. Operations also include iron ore and coke production facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Rouge (Michigan)</span> River in Michigan

The River Rouge is a 127-mile river in the Metro Detroit area of southeastern Michigan. It flows into the Detroit River at Zug Island, which is the boundary between the cities of River Rouge and Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford River Rouge complex</span> Historic automobile manufacturing complex in Dearborn, Michigan, USA

The Ford River Rouge complex is a Ford Motor Company automobile factory complex located in Dearborn, Michigan, along the River Rouge, upstream from its confluence with the Detroit River at Zug Island. Construction began in 1917, and when it was completed in 1928, it was the largest integrated factory in the world, surpassing Buick City, built in 1904.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironworks</span> Building or site where iron is smelted

An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ironworks is ironworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delray, Detroit</span> Neighborhood of Detroit in Wayne, Michigan, United States

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The Hum is a name often given to widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise audible to many but not all people. Hums have been reported all over the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. They are sometimes named according to the locality where the problem has been particularly publicized, such as the "Taos Hum" in New Mexico and the "Windsor Hum" in Ontario.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inland Steel Company</span> American steel company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sparrows Point, Maryland</span> Unincorporated area in Maryland, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar Thomson Steel Works</span> Steel mill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

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SS <i>Ste. Claire</i> Steamship

SS Ste. Claire is a steamer located in Detroit, Michigan. Built in 1910, she was one of the last propeller-driven excursion steamers to be operated on the Great Lakes. She was declared a US National Historic Landmark in 1992. In 2018, a devastating fire destroyed the upper decks, leaving only the steel structure. The ship was delisted as a National Historic Landmark and from the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

The Duluth Works was an industrial steel and cement manufacturing complex located in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, in operation 1915 to 1987. The complex was operated by the United States Steel Corporation. Officially, the plant's purpose was to supply the growing Midwest with steel finished products. Unofficially, they were built as part of a "gentleman's agreement" between U.S. Steel and the State of Minnesota to not impose hefty iron ore taxes on U.S. Steel in exchange for a fully integrated steel plant within Minnesota, whose mines furnished 80% of the ore to U.S. Steel. The combined works of the steel and cement plant were the largest employers in Duluth and the fourth largest industrial complex in Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teesside Steelworks</span>

The Teesside Steelworks was a large steelworks that formed a continuous stretch along the south bank of the River Tees from the towns of Middlesbrough to Redcar in North Yorkshire, England. At its height there were 91 blast furnaces within a 10-mile radius of the area. By the end of the 1970s there was only one left on Teesside. Opened in 1979 and located near the mouth of the River Tees, the Redcar blast furnace was the second largest in Europe.

Delray Connecting Railroad is a railroad operating on Zug Island in Michigan. The railroad interchanges with the Canadian National, Norfolk Southern (NS), CSX and Conrail.

The HIsarna ironmaking process is a direct reduced iron process for iron making in which iron ore is processed almost directly into liquid iron (pig iron). The process combines two process units, the Cyclone Converter Furnace (CCF) for ore melting and pre-reduction and a Smelting Reduction Vessel (SRV) where the final reduction stage to liquid iron takes place. The process does not require the manufacturing of iron ore agglomerates such as pellets and sinter, nor the production of coke, which are necessary for the blast furnace process. Without these steps, the HIsarna process is more energy-efficient and has a lower carbon footprint than traditional ironmaking processes. In 2018 Tata Steel announced it has demonstrated that more than 50% CO2 emission reduction is possible with HIsarna technology, without the need for carbon capture technology.

This steelmaking plant was originally part of the Ford Motor Company, which created an integrated manufacturing complex to produce all major vehicle components at one large facility called The Rouge. In 1989, Ford's steel mill assets were divested and became known as Rouge Industries with the steel operations trading as Rouge Steel Company in Dearborn, Michigan, outside of Detroit.

In 2022, the United States was the world's third-largest producer of raw steel, and the sixth-largest producer of pig iron. The industry produced 29 million metric tons of pig iron and 88 million tons of steel. Most iron and steel in the United States is now made from iron and steel scrap, rather than iron ore. The United States is also a major importer of iron and steel, as well as iron and steel products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the iron and steel industry in the United States</span>

The US iron and steel industry has paralleled the industry in other countries in technological developments. In the 1800s, the US switched from charcoal to coal in ore smelting, adopted the Bessemer process, and saw the rise of very large integrated steel mills. In the 20th century, the US industry successively adopted the open hearth furnace, then the basic oxygen steelmaking process. Since the American industry peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, the US industry has shifted to small mini-mills and specialty mills, using iron and steel scrap as feedstock, rather than iron ore.

References

  1. Bak, Richard (September 2010). Boneyards: Detroit Under Ground (PDF). Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. p. 45. ISBN   9780814333532. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 16, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Rubin, Neil (19 April 2020). "Mill workers at Zug Island steel themselves for the end". The Detroit News. Gary Miles. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. Allnutt, Brian (23 January 2020). "'The dirtiest square mile in Michigan'". Curbed Detroit. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. Deaux, Joe (2019-12-20). "U.S. Steel to cut 1,545 Michigan jobs as weakness overwhelms Trump's protection". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  5. Thibodeau & Hall, Ian & Kalea (20 December 2019). "Layoffs loom at U.S. Steel's Zug Island mill despite tariffs". The Detroit News. Gary Miles. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  6. Witsil, Frank (January 5, 2021). "Steel mill at Zug Island still operating with a fraction of the workforce it once had". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  7. Lam, Tina (June 20, 2010). "48217: Life in Michigan's most polluted ZIP code". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan: Gannett. Archived from the original on June 1, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  8. Schmid, Doug (September 21, 2011). "Zug Island likely culprit of Windsor hum". The Windsor Star. Postmedia Network Inc. Archived from the original on December 25, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  9. "Mysterious noise escalates in Windsor, Ontario". CBC News. January 30, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  10. Ashifa Kassam (June 7, 2016). "The 'Windsor Hum': where is the noise plaguing a city of 210,000 coming from? | World news | The Guardian". The Guardian. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  11. "River Rouge calls off search for Windsor Hum". CBC News. November 7, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  12. Tingley, Kim (June 24, 2013). "The Sound and the Fury". OnEarth.org. NRDC. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
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  14. "Mysterious Windsor hum's source revealed as Zug Island — but scientists still have no idea what the cause is". National Post. May 23, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  15. Colin Novak (May 23, 2014). "Summary of the 'Windsor Hum Study' Results" . Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  16. "Infamous 'Windsor Hum' finally dies down as U.S. Steel idles". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . 27 July 2020.
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  20. "About the Ship". Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
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