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Possibly turning the corner

The news earlier this week that ArcelorMittal Steel had agreed to sell approximately 1,100 acres of currently unused property could very well be the big turning point the Weirton community has needed.

On Wednesday morning, it was revealed the steel company would be selling much of its local land to the Frontier Group of Companies for an undisclosed price.

It will include areas for the basic oxygen plant shop, the blast furnace and ore yard, barge docks, rail area and Brown’s Island.

The announcement was almost two years in the making, after Frontier indicated in June 2015 that it had begun negotiations with ArcelorMittal to purchase the property.

The Frontier Group is the same company which had purchased the former Wheeling-Pitt site in Mingo Junction, scrapping and remediating the land and recently selling a portion of it to a company which is working to restart steel-making operations.

It most likely will be a similar goal in Weirton, focusing on rehabilitating the land and then selling it off, piece-by-piece, to interested parties.

One of the biggest challenges for major economic development in the Ohio Valley has always been a lack of available land.

With this agreement, there is the potential for space for a number of companies of varying type and size to locate in Weirton, and the access to the Ohio River, a rail line and the highway make it all that much more attractive.

New businesses mean jobs for area residents, which continues to be much-needed in the Ohio Valley.

We must, of course, offer a measure of caution and urge patience. These developments will not happen overnight. Time will be needed to remediate the areas in question, meet environmental regulations, market the land to potential businesses and then construct the new facilities once a company commits.

But this does offer a great measure of hope for not only Weirton, but much of the region. After years of relying on the steel industry, and seeing it decline, there is the possibility of seeing some economic improvement in the coming years.

Much of it is being brought on by the burgeoning energy industry, with drilling and fracking continuing its way through the Ohio Valley, pipelines being constructed and at least one ethane cracker set to be constructed.

There is the potential for much more, though, and we believe this truly is what we need to turn that corner and head into a better future.

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