As we continue to advocate for a cleaner, safer Mon Valley, the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) is keeping a close eye on the fallout from the deadly August 2025 explosion at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works . In case you missed it, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) published an interim report following that issued interim safety recommendations to the company. You can read the entire document here  (and we totally recommend that you do). F

Yinz smell that?! That tell-tale stench of rotten eggs? You’re not smelling things: Concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (or H2S for short) are sky-high in and around the Mon Valley today. And you’re not alone in your suffering - social media and Carnegie Mellon University’s Smell Pittsburgh app lit up with complaints starting overnight Monday and continuing into the afternoon Tuesday: For the uninitiated: H2S is a toxic gas that occurs both naturally (from sources such as sw

Bad news to report today, friends. Here’s what’s going on: As you may recall, back in July, we blogged about the EPA’s   proposal to postpone compliance deadlines  in the revised National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for integrated iron and steel manufacturing facilities (the II&S NESHAPs), including U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock.  GASP also   spoke out against  the proposed postponement in September. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, EPA

We find ourselves somewhat surprised to report that the federal government’s struggle against its own revised National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for coke ovens continues.  Quick background: The EPA promulgated the Revised Coke Oven NESHAPs in 2024.  Among other things, they required that coke oven operators monitor for benzene at their fencelines; imposed new limits on emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coke oven pushing, quenching, and battery s

The EPA on Nov. 20 published a   proposed rule  that would redesignate Allegheny County from “nonattainment” of the 2012 National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter (the “2012 NAAQS for PM2.5”) to “attainment.”   EPA’s proposed rule is based on monitored air quality data that shows that all areas of the county attained the 2012 NAAQS for PM2.5 during the years 2018, 2019, and 2020.  The proposed rule also discusses more recent monitored air quality data,

The Board of Health on Wednesday approved revisions to Allegheny County Health Department’s portion of Pennsylvania’s State Implementation Plan (SIP). What is a SIP? Here’s how ACHD explains its website: When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) or revises an existing standard, it sets in motion a series of actions aimed at ensuring that air quality throughout the country meets those standards. State Im