Media

(WARREN, OHIO) June 22, 2006 - WCI Steel, Inc. will spend $29.3 million to install a new baghouse system at its Basic Oxygen Furnace to reduce environmental emissions and meet new federal air quality standards.

Major on-site construction will begin in August, although ductwork foundations and site preparation are well under way. The new baghouse system, which will be located on the west end of the BOF, is set to be operational in April of 2007.

A baghouse is a fabric filter system that allows the removal of dust particles from gases produced during the steelmaking process in order to reduce the emissions of particulate matter to the air. Exhaust gases are drawn through extensive ductwork to the baghouse, where the dust is filtered out as the gas stream passes through the filters, or bags, before being exhausted to the air. The filtered dust particulates that accumulate on the fire-retardant bags are removed from the bags regularly and disposed of in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

WCI President Patrick G. Tatom said the baghouse investment reflects WCI’s commitment to meeting environmental protection standards, noting the project will bring WCI’s total spending on environmental projects and monitoring to more than $100 million since 2000.

“Safeguarding the environment is a key core value for WCI,” Tatom said. “We’re making a substantial investment that serves the best interest of our employees and our community.”

The construction will not affect production, Tatom said. Once in operation, the BOF complex will have two separate baghouses. The new baghouse, which will have the capability to handle 800,000 cubic feet of air per minute, will be the more powerful of the two.

The installation will allow WCI to meet the Maximum Achievable Control Technology standard for the iron and steel industry, which was established in May 2003 pursuant to the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. The Iron & Steel MACT calls for a reduction in air emissions by imposing more stringent emission limitations on new and existing major emission sources of so-called hazardous air pollutants and requiring that MACT technology - in WCI’s case, a new BOF baghouse system – be installed to meet these limitations.

The MACT project is the second major capital investment WCI has announced in the last six weeks, part of the company’s plan to invest at least $125 million in the plant over the next four years. In May, WCI announced it will install a new walking beam furnace at its hot strip mill at a cost of $36.7 million.

WCI is an integrated steelmaker producing more than 185 grades of custom and commodity flat-rolled steel at its Warren, Ohio facility. WCI products are used by steel service centers, convertors and the automotive and construction markets. The company has about 1,450 employees.

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