Group Against Smog & Pollution

The Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday afternoon issued the following press release: The Allegheny County Health Department wants to inform the public that the PM2.5 air quality conditions for Thursday, July 16 are currently in the Code Maroon (Hazardous Air Quality) range for areas of the county and conditions have gotten progressively worse throughout the afternoon. Wildfire smoke continues to impact Pennsylvania from Ontario, Canada and Minnesota, significantly

It’s gonna be a nasty one, today: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has declared a statewide Code Red Air Quality Action Day for particulate matter (PM2.5). GASP wants to strongly urge residents to be air aware - bookmark www.airnow.gov or download the app for current conditions in our area. As a reminder: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality Index (AQI) provides standardized color codes for forecasting and reporting daily a

Friends, we’re thrilled to introduce you to the newest member of the GASP team: Dr. Jeff Galak, associate professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. Here’s a little bit about Jeff: He received his undergraduate degree in marketing and economic theory, a Master of Philosophy in marketing, and a Ph.D. in marketing from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is an expert in consumer behavior, consumer psychology, and how people

If you’ve been following Mon Valley news lately, you’ve probably seen a LOT of headlines around U.S. Steel’s proposed multi-billion-dollar capital investment plan for its local facilities - and at the heart of this plan is a proposal to build a hot strip mill at the Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock. U.S. Steel has bragged in press releases about efficiency, securing thousands of union jobs, and bringing a historic 150-year-old mill into the modern era. But around here at GASP,

Allegheny County is completely changing its Allegheny Alerts system, and if you don't re-register before July 18, your alerts will stop. Here's how to sign up for the new system.

Currently, the Revolution Cryogenic Plant is classified as a what’s known as a natural minor source of air pollution. However, with the addition of the new Cryo II Unit, its potential to emit air pollutants would actually exceed major source thresholds.

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. Since the docket has not been updated since December 2025, GASP is now filing monthly public records requests to glean more timely information related to ACHD’s enforcement efforts. This is one of the most recent a

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. Because the docket has not been updated since December 2025, GASP is now filing monthly public records requests to glean more timely information related to ACHD’s enforcement efforts. These are the most recent actions received

The anonymous survey is open to all Allegheny County residents age 18 and older and takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Through our Fresh Voices for Clean Air project, we’ve seen firsthand that there is no better way to protect our future than by handing the microphone to the generation that will inherit it.

Our senior attorney John Baillie explained the facility’s permit application demonstrated that it would be capable of operating flares used to control pollution at a 98% destructive efficiency rather than the 95% that would have been allowed by the draft Installation Permit.

“The pendulum has swung back to where it was in 2020,” GASP Senior Attorney John Baillie said. “The history of the HFC regulations shows not only that it is important to follow the law, but also that what one president can do with the stroke of a pen, the next president can undo the same way."

Acknowledging the long-standing community frustration over communication gaps during industrial accidents, she announced that the county is debuting a brand-new emergency alert platform called CodeRED.

GASP was honored to join Allegheny County Clean Air Now (ACCAN) Wednesday for a reunion event celebrating a decade of cleaner air since the closure of the Shenango Coke Works on Neville Island. It was a night of hugs, shared memories, and a profound sense of "we did it." Looking around the room, it was impossible not to feel hopeful about the power of a community that refuses to stay silent. “By pairing resident advocates with legal and technical air-quality experts, this mul

The Pennsylvania Senate earlier this month passed a bill that would require the end of the Keystone state’s vehicle emission inspection program –one that GASP has written about extensively (here and here and here). That begs the question: Can Pennsylvania end its vehicle inspection program?

Despite official claims from regulators that backlogs are being successfully managed, GASP’s analysis shows multiple regional offices of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) - and to a lesser extent, the Allegheny County Health Department - continue to experience critical delays.

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