Group Against Smog & Pollution

Since 2018, we’ve researched and reported on the backlogs that exist at ACHD and at DEP’s six regional offices for processing applications for Title V Operating Permits, the permits that the Clean Air Act requires the largest sources of air pollution to have.

For an organization like GASP—and for communities like ours that bear the brunt of industrial emissions—attending this conference helped us bridge the gap between cutting-edge global science and the real, breathable air in our neighborhoods.

At a time when environmental protections are being rolled back at an alarming pace at federal level, your local watchdogs are here to step up.

U.S. Steel has contested citations issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stemming from the deadly August 2025 explosion at the Clairton Coke Works. The OSHA website shows the company has contested all 10 of the violations - nine of which were related to subpar safety procedures and employee training, and one was for failing to provide the agency with required reports as required. U.S. Steel was fined $118,000 for those violations. One of U.S.

We wanted to issue a HUGE SHOUT OUT to all the folks who joined us on our walk-and-talk with Allegheny Land Trust last week at Churchill Valley Greenway. It's spring in Pittsburgh - this time of year, you never know what you’re gonna get. Could be blue skies and sunshine, could be gray and drizzly. This time around, we got the latter. Extra special thanks to Sara Klingensmith at ALT for all her help co-leading the walk! Despite a little rain and overcast skies, yinz were all

Gov. Josh Shapiro this week announced that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was seeking final court approval of a consent decree that will allow two generating stations in the Commonwealth to reopen and operate through 2032. The Keystone and Conemaugh Generating Stations are both coal-fired power plants having the same operator. Keystone is in Armstrong County and Conemaugh is in Indiana County. Both plants had been slated to close at the end of

Several months ago, we blogged about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to redesignate Allegheny County from nonattainment of the 2012 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter to attainment. We have an update: In the April 16 edition of the Federal Register, EPA published a Final Rule that does, in fact, redesignate Allegheny County to attainment of the 2012 NAAQS for PM2.5. To put it another way: It’s official, official now.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with local families and environmental advocates, the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) on Monday attended a public hearing to challenge the installation permit for the EQT Leto Well Pad and Dehydrator in West Deer Township. GASP joined our partners at Concerned Residents of West Deer (CROWD) , a dedicated group of neighbors who have spent years fighting to protect their community from heavy industrial shale gas operations in residentia

An enforcement action by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) serves as a stark reminder that public health regulations aren't optional—even for state agencies. Here’s what happened: During a routine inspection in April 2025, ACHD representatives visited the I-376 Bridge over Boyce Road and determined that while the site already held a permit for sandblasting structural steel, crews were also performing unpermitted abrasive blasting on rusted rebar for concrete repai

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) has issued a $7,140 civil penalty against NCP Carbon for repeated air quality violations and failure to report equipment breakdowns in 2025. Located in Jefferson Hills, the facility specializes in carbon products, including carbon raiser, injection carbon, and metallurgic coke. According to a March 9 ACHD enforcement order, between June and October 2025, department representatives documented several instances of excess emissions o

The Avonworth School District and one of its contractors are facing a $5,850 fine for asbestos abatement-related violations stemming from a 2025 roof replacement project at the high school. According to a March 9, 2026, enforcement order issued by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and obtained by GASP through a public records request, the district and Triangle Roofing Corp. failed to provide the required asbestos survey prior to renovations at Avonworth High Sch

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 decre e reached between the company, our friends at PennEnvironment, and the Alleghen

Ethylene oxide is a cancer-causing hazardous air pollutant that is used to sterilize medical products, among other things – we’ve blogged about ethylene oxide pollution several times . Because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has moved the sticks on regulating ethylene oxide pollution yet again , it’s time for another update. EPA on March 17 published a proposed rule and reconsideration of its April 5, 2024 Final Rule that revised the National Emission Stan

Some abysmal news to share: As of this week, the Mon Valley has experienced 34 hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) exceedances so far in 2026. To put that into perspective, during this same period last year, we were looking at just 14. For the uninitiated: Hydrogen sulfide is an air pollutant with an unmistakable rotten egg odor that all-too-often blankets the Mon Valley. While the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) tracks it, the health and quality-of-life impacts are more tha

Last July, we blogged about a proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke its 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles in the United States endangered the public health and welfare by contributing to the global warming crisis. Known as the 2009 Endangerment Finding, it was the predicate for EPA’s increasingly stringent regulation of new motor vehicles’ greenhouse gas emissions, by which EPA intended to force the electrific

The Aug. 11, 2025 explosion at the Clairton Coke Works killed two, injured a dozen more, and rocked an entire community. In its wake was special air quality monitoring , a Chemical Safety Board investigation , and, most recently, a $118,000 fine from OSHA. Then came the biggest news yet: A pair of wrongful death suits had been filed against U.S. Steel and two other companies. While GASP is not affiliated with the cases and has no special knowledge of them, staff reviewed

Last June, we blogged about EPA’s proposal to repeal revisions to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) for coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs). Those revisions were made in May 2024. Here’s an update, which should not come as a surprise: on Feb. 24, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule that did in fact repeal the May 2024 NESHAPs for coal-fired EGUs , on the same bases that were proposed when we last

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published notice of its intent to issue a Plan Approval to Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC for modifications to the company’s ethane cracker in Monaca, Beaver County - with plans for a public hearing April 7. Specifically, the Plan Approval would: authorize Shell to modify flares that it uses to control air pollution at the Facility, as required by new federal regulations authorize Shell to install new equipment in t

If you live, work, or play in or around the Mon Valley, we probably don’t need to tell you just how bad air quality has been over the past week or so. The Smell Pittsburgh app lit up with reports from or neighbors detailing everything from the way their community stunk (some described it as rotten eggs, while others deemed it industrial or chemical in nature) to the physical symptoms they experienced (sore throat, breathing difficulties, insomnia). That distinct, nauseating

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. Air Quality Violations Lead to $46K Fine for Synthomer Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) issued a more than $46,000 civil penalty against West Elizabeth-based Synthomer - a Title V facility that produces syn

A couple of weeks ago we blogged about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s revision of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for natural gas-fired combustion turbines. In that blog, we noted EPA’s decision not to quantify human health benefits that might accrue from reductions in such turbines’ emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and fine particulate matter PM2.5”) under the new standards as part of the cost-benefit analysis that it performed for the standar