Yeah, I just found out that I had to shoot the crates (then the pipe). I had originally done this, but it mustn't have counted for some reason.
Anyway, if someone else is having this issue - this is the solution. Shoot the boxes, then then pipe!
Sorry to get you stuck there Ripley, you're certainly not the first person to miss that in the steam room. It's on the fix list to make the valve more obvious, or make it interactable so it can be looked at.
