What a Tale...
January 21, 2012, Hueytown, AL: We were filming the Birmingham Southern's operations of the US Steel plant in Hueytown, Al today and were on USS property, but there were no signs that mentioned anything about trespassing or photography. BS was recently acquired by WATCO, so is no longer owned by US Steel. We were filming and taking pictures. Two Ford Expeditions painted for USS came screeching up far above the posted speed limit of 23 miles per hour and one pulled in front and the other behind our truck so we couldn't leave. The officers demanded that we delete all photos and video and show them. We understand they might have a no-photography policy, but since there were no signs and we were not filming their operation, it is WATCO's, it doesn't seem they had a right to do this. Please post a comment or your story. We will soon be contacting Birmingham Southern, WATCO, and US Steel.
Hello SLP. I am a railfan that just so happens to have started working at USS Fairfield Works. I do not know the specifics of the photography policy other than they take it very seriously. Because of their steel making capacitity it is considered vital infrastructure and therefore falls under the Dept. of Homeland Security jurisdiction if it goes this far. Hopefully this will shed a little light on your situation. Keep up the good work on your videos.
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