I often get leads on abandonments from unlikely sources. A few months back I was hanging out at my friends place when his dad mentioned a steel mill he used to haul out of when he drove truck in the 70s. Later that night I was talking with a friend I often explore with about our plans for the following day. Turns out she had heard of this place, but had never been inside.
The next day we headed out with very good directions from my buddies dad. The place was easy enough to find. The fact that it sits on the property of a active steel mill makes entering a bit tricky. The only possible way onto the property was by some active businesses. After waiting until 5 when all the workers went home we made our way onto the property. Waiting around all afternoon was absolutely worth it!
Being on a active site has it's advantages. Signs of scrap thieves, taggers and vandals were damn near non existent. Some of the equipment had been removed, but what remained sat untouched by everything but the elements since the early 80s.
The company that owned this mill for most of it's life specialized in working with radioactive metals, primarily uranium and thorium. They even worked on The Manhattan Project in the 40s and 50s. Little to the public's knowledge the company was dumping the waste from these chemicals on site for many years. The original company has insulated itself from any cleanup liability, and the company who owned it most recently has long since gone bankrupt. This leaves cleanup cost to the town and state. Since both are pretty much broke these buildings will likely slowly be reclaimed by the earth for the foreseeable future.
This was my first large industrial explore (not including silos) and has been my favorite place I have been this year. All pictures were taken with my phone and this is my first time messing around with editing, so any advice or constructive criticism would be very much appreciated!
I'll be what I am, A solitary man:
1834 Ghost in the machine:
1823 In dust we trust:
1673 Artifacts of those who came before us:
1653 It's a long way down, I don't think I'll make it on my own:
1649 The industry is going green:
1842 Fern Gully:
1838 Playing hooky:
1828 Inventory:
1802 He's a smooth crane operator:
1792 The adventures of Toxic Sludge & The Big Wheel:
1766 The green mile:
1748 A window into another time:
1743 High ground:
1726 Patchwork:
1702 21+ Only:
1681 I get the time to often on AM radio:
1636 Hats off to ya:
1618 Captains chair:
1587 Through the captains eyes:
1581 Let's hook up:
1579 
My fave has got to be the Smooth Operator..... like the lighting, the colors, and the rusty bent beam. Excellent set Swan! 👍👍 
