Allegheny County Health Department Issues $918K Penalty to U.S. Steel for Uncontrolled Pushes at Clairton Coke Works

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) has issued $918,000 in new penalties against U.S. Steel for air quality violations at its Clairton Coke Works facility.

The June 6 enforcement order shows that between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024, there were a total of 167 uncontrolled pushes at the Clairton facility at Batteries B, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20.

Some necessary background: Pushing is generally the operation by which coke that has completed the coking cycle is mechanically pushed from a coke oven into a traveling car and transported to a quench station where the coke is cooled with water. 

During normal operation of the coke oven batteries 13, 14, 15, 19 and 20 at the Clairton Coke Plant, a fume collection hood is moved into place above the hot car outside the door of a coke oven at the completion of the coking cycle for that oven. B Battery is equipped with a shed enclosure that captures pushing emissions. The door on the side of the oven where the hot car is located is then removed prior to pushing coke from the oven. 

Pushing emissions from the traveling hood or shed are vented to the battery’s baghouses. Emissions occur during the pushing operation from activities such as the physical movement of the coke mass from the oven, dropping of coke into the hot car, or partial combustion of coke due to the high temperature of the coke contacting ambient air. 

So, that’s what should have happened. Here’s what happened at Clairton, according to the enforcement order:

The Clairton Coke Plant has experienced process and equipment failures, which resulted in the traveling hood not being properly positioned above the hot car, a loss of suction to the baghouse, baghouse outage or other issues causing emissions not to be captured during the push. The pushing of coke from an oven without first capturing and ducting the emissions to a fully operational PEC baghouse is known as an “uncontrolled push.” 

And it isn’t the first time the company has been fined for these types of violations. In 2022, ACHD issued a $4.6 million fine for 831 uncontrolled pushes at the Clairton facility.

“This is more of the same from one of Allegheny County’s most prolific polluters,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. “Despite settlement agreements and promised upgrades to the Clairton Coke Works, the company continues to violate the terms of its permits and impact the health and quality of life for its neighbors.”