ACHD Issues Penalty Against U.S. Steel for January Breakdown at Clairton Coke Works

Remember that breakdown at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works this past January - the one that prompted the Allegheny County Health Department to issue this public statement?

Because a GASP public records request has revealed new information: That the breakdown resulted in a demand for $10,000 in stipulated penalties against U.S. Steel.

Why? Because of provision in a high-profile 2021 consent decree reached between the company, our friends at PennEnvironment, and the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD).

The caveat: That U.S. Steel would be fined $10,000 for the first consecutive calendar day for excess H2S grain loading where sulfur dioxide emissions at Clairton Coke Works exceed 20 tons. Fines increase if the violation runs more than one day.

According to ACHD’s March 10 demand for stipulated penalties, the Clairton Coke Works emitted 22.6 tons of excess SO2 thanks to the Jan. 27 breakdown.

You can read the entire demand letter here.

For those who'd like to take a deeper dive into the incident, here are some other docs we received through the Right to Know process:

• The initial breakdown report U.S. Steel submitted to ACHD 

• The 24-hour written notice U.S. Steel submitted to ACHD

• ACHD’s notification to U.S. Steel that there was an exceedance of the H2S 25-grain standard

• An email chain between ACHD and U.S. Steel discussing flaring during the event

Editor’s Note: The Allegheny County Health Department periodically updates its website to include documents related to air quality enforcement actions. As part of our watchdog work, GASP monitors this webpage and reports on the air quality violations posted there. However, the docket has not been updated since December 2025. GASP is filing Right to Know requests for enforcement documents each month.

“Timely transparency is needed,” GASP Communications Manager Amanda Gillooly said. “It would be ideal if the county updated the Air Quality Program enforcement docket each month, so residents know what our local regulator is doing to protect the air we all breathe from bad actors. As it stands, the docket has not been updated yet this year.”