Curtis Tate Published

Nucor Breaks Ground On Steel Plant And Shoots For A World Record

A group of older Americans throw shovels full of dirt at the people taking their picture.
U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, Gov. Jim Justice and Senate President Craig Blair break ceremonial ground on the Nucor plant in Mason County.
Curtis Tate/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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Elected officials, corporate executives and members of the public all participated in the groundbreaking for a new steel plant in Mason County on Friday.

With a countdown from 10,550 shovels of dirt moved at the site of Nucor’s future steel plant, in an attempt to clench a world record for number of people in a groundbreaking.

Gov. Jim Justice, U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, state lawmakers, local leaders, Nucor workers and students from three high schools officially kicked off the project on a wet and cold October morning.

The Nucor plant will open in 2026, employing 800 workers full-time. The construction of the plant will require 2,000 workers.

The company, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, will produce sheet steel from scrap steel using an electric arc furnace.

Some of the plant’s power will be renewable, including a proposed solar farm in the county.

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