COFIELD – An accident at Nucor Steel of Hertford County near here Tuesday night left one worker injured.

According to Nucor Plant Manager Johnny Jacobs, the mishap occurred on the grounds of the plant and not inside the sprawling structure located on River Road east of Cofield.

“The accident involved one of the on-site contractors that was emptying a slag pot,” Jacobs said.

According to a spokesperson for that contractor – Harsco Metals, a Pennsylvania-based firm that performs mill services for Nucor Steel of Hertford County – the accident took place at 9:30 p.m.

“The incident resulted in unspecified damage to the slag pot carrier and a minor burn to the hand of the carrier’s driver,” said Ken Julian, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for Harsco.

“Although not yet confirmed, the preliminary investigation indicates that the slag pot had residual water that became trapped underneath molten slag during emptying of the slag pot,” Julian stated in a Wednesday afternoon press release e-mailed to the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. “It appears that the water flashed to steam, resulting in a discharge of slag and the damage to the carrier.  The driver received the minor burn while exiting the carrier and was transported to the local hospital for evaluation where he was treated and released.”

Julian added that the driver has already returned to the plant site as of Wednesday morning to assist with the incident investigation.

“Harsco and Nucor are committed to the safety of their team and are working together on the incident investigation and implementation of corrective actions to avoid the potential of a future incident,” Julian concluded.