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 March 19. 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

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

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined U.S. Steel $118,000 for safety violations stemming from the deadly August explosion at the Clairton Coke Works. OSHA documents show that the company was cited 10 times - nine of those were related to subpar safety procedures and employee training, and one was for failing to provide the agency with required reports as required. The fines were first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review . Additionally,

Trump’s EPA on Thursday announced the revocation of what’s known as the 2009 Endangerment Finding - one that resulted in greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines.   The Endangerment Finding is the legal prerequisite EPA used to regulate emissions from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines. Without the Endangerment Finding, the EPA would not have legal authority under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to set standards for greenhou