The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) this week announced it entered into a Consent Order and Agreement with The Sherwin-Williams Manufacturing Company to resolve air quality violations at its Rochester Plant in Beaver County. According to a press release issued Tuesday, Sherwin-Williams will pay a total $124,700 civil penalty within 30 days of receiving the fully executed consent order. The air quality violations first came to light thanks to investigative reporting by KDKA’s Meghan Schiller after neighbors sounded the alarm over what they described as persistent chemical smell. The consent order addresses violations related to: Failure to install and operate air cleaning devices in a timely manner Air contaminant source construction/installation without proper plan approval Missed required startup notifications Failure to perform required monitoring and recordkeeping under permit and plan approval conditions Issues tied to required control equipment startup timelines and stack testing In addition to the $124,700 civil penalty, the agreement establishes stipulated penalties for future violations. For example, Sherwin-Williams will be fined $1,000 per day per violation for failing to meet any of the agreement deadlines, including those associated with the installation and operation of a Thermal Oxidizer and South Tank Truck Area Carbon Adsorber. The agreement remains in effect until DEP determines Sherwin-Williams has completed all required corrective actions and paid all required penalties. Editor’s Note: For those who’d like to take a deeper dive, you can access the full agreement here.

The U.S Chemical Safety Board on Monday issued its final report on the Aug. 11, 2025 explosion at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works that killed two people, injured 11 others, and caused an estimated $52.5 million in property damage. The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating, determining, and reporting to the public in writing the facts, conditions, and circumstances and the cause or probable cause of any accidental chemical release resulting in a fatality, serious injury, or substantial property damages. Its biggest takeaway? The explosion could have been prevented. The final report is 86 pages long and contains detailed analysis related to the incident, photographs depicting the aftermath of the explosion, and diagrams explaining what happened - we highly recommend folks take a look. While you can read the entire report online, here are the key investigative findings: Procedures and Hazard Analysis: On the day of the explosion, the valve washing operation was performed in a way that directly caused the catastrophic failure of the Battery 13 coke oven gas isolation valve. U.S. Steel occasionally utilized water washing to address valves that could not otherwise fully close, but the company never developed a formal procedure for water washing valves despite relying on it to prepare isolation valves for maintenance outages. Additionally, neither U.S. Steel nor its contractor, MPW Industrial Services, Inc, (MPW), identified or addressed the hazards created by applying pressurized water to the valve at a pressure greater than the valve’s design rating. Facility Siting: The buildings in the Battery 13/14 transfer area were located less than 20 feet directly above the coke oven gas piping system. The buildings were routinely occupied by U.S. Steel personnel but were neither designed nor constructed to withstand an explosion. In the years leading up to the explosion, U.S. Steel had multiple opportunities to evaluate and address the inherent hazards resulting from the co-location of occupied buildings and the hazardous coke oven gas piping. “However, U.S. Steel affirmatively chose not to do so, based on the company’s belief that it was not required to do so,” the report states. Process Safety Management Systems: U.S. Steel did not have sufficient process safety management systems that could have prevented or reduced the severity of this incident. Stay tuned, GASP continues to follow this issue closely and will keep you posted as more information becomes available. Editor’s Note: Here is some key coverage of the report: U.S. Steel’s 'ineffective’ safety procedures led to explosion that killed two, federal chemical safety board concludes - The Allegheny Front U.S. Steel could have prevented 2025 Clairton Coke Works explosion, Chemical Safety Board says | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Preventable safety management failures caused Clairton Coke Works explosions, says chemical safety board

Gov. Josh Shapiro last week announced the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will develop new regulations to reduce methane emissions from new and existing oil and gas operations across the state, including requirements to detect and repair leaks and phase out routine venting and flaring — two major sources of methane pollution. According to a press release, DEP will develop rules requiring equipment and practices that reduce leaks from well sites, pipelines, and other oil and gas infrastructure, while reducing emissions from venting and flaring activities. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and the principal component of natural gas. The new regulations are expected to reduce leaks and emissions from wells, pipelines, and other infrastructure, and require regular monitoring to identify and plug any new leaks. Some more potentially good news: Through the RISE PA program, the Commonwealth is investing $396 million “in projects that will create thousands of good-paying construction and manufacturing jobs while reducing carbon emissions and air pollution from industrial facilities.” The release also indicated that more than $210 million in federal funding has been secured to plug 400 orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells — more than were plugged in the previous 10 years combined — and secured more than $29 million in state funding to continue this critical work and reduce methane emissions that contribute to climate change. DEP announced the rulemaking in its updated Regulatory Agenda, which outlines the regulatory actions DEP expects to undertake over the coming year. The proposal will move through Pennsylvania's public regulatory review process, including opportunities for stakeholder and public comment before any final regulations are adopted. The full Regulatory Calendar can be found on the DEP website. Advanced drafts of the regulation will be presented to the Citizen’s Advisory Council, Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee, the Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee, the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board, and the PA Grade Crude Advisory Council. GASP lauds the announcement and looks forward to reviewing the regulatory language when it is published for public comment. Stay tuned, we continue to follow this issue closely and will keep you posted as the process unfolds.