We’re screaming CONGRATULATIONS to longtime GASP board member Maren Cooke, who was recently named an Allegheny County Medical Society Foundation awardee. The annual Allegheny County Medical Society Foundation (also known as ACMSF) awards recognize outstanding efforts by physicians, health care professionals and others who have significantly advanced patient care, contributed to improving the health of the community, served the medical profession, provided exceptional leadership, or enhanced the quality of patient care and safety. Maren will be honored with the Benjamin Rush Individual Award, which recognizes a non-physician who is making a positive impact on community health. “For those who don’t know her, Maren is a true renaissance woman – a scientist, educator, activist, master gardener, wife, mother, artist and musician,” outgoing GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “GASP is so fortunate to have someone with her experience and passion fighting alongside us for cleaner air for all.” Filippini noted that Maren selected GASP as her charitable organization to receive a $1,000 donation on her behalf. “We are so grateful for the donation,” she added. “The money will be spent doing what we do best: Watchdog work, education, and progressive policy advocacy.” Maren earned a bachelor of science in physics and astronomy, (and most of a BA in studio arts, to boot) from the University of Rochester, along with a doctorate in planetary science from Cornell University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT in science education and formerly worked for NASA. She moved to Pittsburgh in 2000 and quickly became involved with GASP. But we’re not the only organization that benefits from her time and talent: She also helps lead 350 Pittsburgh, Pittsburghers Against Single-Use Plastic, and ReImagine Food System. Maren also co-founded a school garden and school outreach program with Frick Environmental Center and serves as an urban eco steward with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and as a Tree Tender with TreePittsburgh. She organizes the Sustainability Salon, a monthly environmental education forum and community gathering. You can learn more about Maren’s work on her blog. Dr. Edward Wrenn, who nominated Maren for the award, said she is “living proof that one individual can have a profound and even transformative effect on others.” “Maren is an inspiration and role model. She has taught me that if you see something that’s not right, that is inconsistent with your values, you must act on it,” Wrenn added. Maren and the other 2020 and 2021 award recipients will be honored at the first ACMSF Virtual Gala Thursday, October 7. This virtual gala will convene ACMS members and supporters to honor excellence among their peers and raise funds for a special purpose: supporting the development of a comprehensive treatment and prevention program for children with asthma in the Mon Valley region of southwestern Pennsylvania. This asthma program will include the establishment of local asthma clinics. Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end and philanthropist Cameron Heyward is the featured celebrity guest – he will speak about his experiences as a child with asthma, its effects on his life today, and his humanitarian work. Also on tap: GASP friend Dr. Deborah Gentile, a local pediatric allergy and asthma specialist, and her patients will share their experiences and describe the impact of asthma in their lives. You can learn more about the event, the awardees, and how to attend the gala here.

RGGI is a cap-and-trade program for gas emissions from large electric generating units. Eleven states in the northeastern United States already participate in the program. But now for the not-so-great news: That IRRC approval moved the proposed regulation to the standing Environmental Resources and Energy Committees of the Pennsylvania House and Senate. As expected, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee promptly approved a concurrent resolution that would kill the regulation. According to the concurrent resolution: The full House of Representatives has the longer of 30 days or 10 legislative days to approve the resolution. Once approved by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, the concurrent resolution moves to the Senate’s Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. That Committee also has the longer of 30 days or 10 legislative days to approve it. The Senate Committee will consider the concurrent resolution on Tuesday, September 14. Here’s what you need to know about the process: If the Senate Committee approves the concurrent resolution, it moves to the Governor. The Governor may veto the concurrent resolution, in which case the House and Senate can vote to override the veto, killing the regulation. If the Governor does not act on the concurrent resolution – or if the House and Senate fail to override the Governor’s veto – the regulation becomes effective. “Opposition to the RGGI regulation is generally based on the notions that the regulation will drive up electricity prices in Pennsylvania; that the regulation imposes a tax, which only the General Assembly (not the EQB or the Governor) has the power to levy; and that the EQB lacks the statutory authority to adopt the regulation under Pennsylvania’s Air Pollution Control Act,” GASP senior attorney John Baillie explained. “This month should prove to be an interesting one.  We will keep you posted on new developments as they occur.” Editor’s Note: The hearing kicks off at 11 a.m. Sept. 14. You can watch the live stream here.

Note: This story was updated at 6:16 p.m. Sept. 14 to reflect information from Allegheny County Council’s meeting and again on Sept. 23 to reflect that the new rules have been signed into law by Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Allegheny County Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve a long-sought Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode rules.  The vote came after Council’s Health and Human Service committee affirmatively recommended the episodic weather regulation Sept 8. The regulations were signed into law by Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald on Sept. 15. The aim of the new regulations? To reduce particulate matter in the Mon Valley during periods of stagnant weather patterns, which are often a driver of subpar air quality and exceedances of state and federal standards. For those who might not be familiar: The proposed reg will require facilities in the defined Mon Valley area that produce more than 6.5 tons of pm2.5 annually and/or more than 10 tons of pm10 annually to create and submit to ACHD “Mitigation Plans” for periods when poor air quality is forecast. ACHD anticipates the new regulation affecting 18 facilities in 32 municipalities. Here’s what you need to know: During the “Watch” phase, facilities such as U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works must conduct basic checks to ensure equipment is in good working order but also ensure they have adequate staff to take actions required under the “Warning” phase. Once a “Warning” is issued, facilities must undertake the actions listed in the mitigation plans they filed with ACHD. The particular actions will be specific to each facility and approved on a case-by-case basis. The proposed change will also ban all wood-burning activities when a Mon Valley Air Pollution Watch or Warning has been issued in the defined municipalities. GASP thanks council for its yes vote. “As we’ve said: No, it’s not everything that we had hoped for but it’s progress and we thank council for greenlighting the regulation,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said.

GASP testified before the Allegheny County Board of Health Wednesday, asking members to do what they could to increase transparency over the status of a 2017 Notice of Violation against U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works and ongoing exceedances of the state hydrogen sulfide standard in the Mon Valley. Here’s her full testimony: Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony today. I’m Rachel Filippini, the executive director of the Group Against Smog and Pollution. For years, we have come to this board to express concerns about hydrogen sulfide malodors impacting our community. To the health department’s credit, you have attempted to get at the problem by revising the County’s coke oven regulations and deploying more H2S monitors in the Mon Valley. But at the end of the day the odors and terrible air quality persist and community members are suffering. The health department must do more to acknowledge and address this health and quality of life issue. In all of 2020, Allegheny County had 25 exceedances of the PA’s hydrogen sulfide standard.  So far in 2021, we’ve had 35 exceedances at the Liberty monitor and 12 at the North Braddock monitor and we still have four months to go. Instead of making progress, it appears that the issue is getting worse. On April 1st, the ACHD issued a Notice of Violation against US Steel for exceedances of the hydrogen sulfide ambient air quality standard at the Liberty monitor.  But we have heard nothing since and the H2S exceedances persist. But it isn’t just odors: Occasionally residents will snap images of dark plumes of black, gray, and brown smoke emanating from the Edgar Thomson facility.  Typically, community members are left on their own trying to figure out what may have happened, what toxins are in that smoke now settling over the community, what it is they are smelling, and if anyone is taking steps to prevent it from happening again.  Too many inquiries into the health department, using their new on-line form, go unanswered. Does the board remember that the EPA and ACHD jointly initiated enforcement action against US Steel for ongoing emissions issues at the Braddock facility?  That occurred nearly four years ago in November 2017.  It was supposed to be the first step in getting the plant back into compliance with both county and federal air quality regulations. But we have heard nothing since. Hundreds of residents last year joined GASP in demanding ACHD release a substantive public update regarding what upgrades, maintenance, management changes, and fines U.S. Steel would be facing. The health department’s response was that they would not be commenting on the matter.  So now we are forced to go directly to EPA to ask for a fundamental update. The public deserves answers; it deserves transparency. Ultimately, we deserve cleaner, healthier air to breathe. And we hope ACHD will do all it can to encourage EPA to address this issue promptly.

Editor's Note: The EPA on April 5, 2024, finalized its ethylene oxide rule, which is effective immediately. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced a rule that will reduce lifetime cancer risks for people living near commercial sterilization facilities across the country. Two such facilities are right here in southwestern Pennsylvania - American Contract Systems, Inc., in Zelienople, Butler County, and Cosmed Group LLC/Erie in the City of Erie. The final amendments to the air toxics standards for ethylene oxide commercial sterilization facilities put in place the strongest measures in U.S. history to reduce emissions of ethylene oxide, one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals. Through the installation of proven and achievable air pollution controls, commercial sterilizers will reduce emissions by more than 90%. “We appreciate the resources and effort that go into updating a risk assessment and are glad that work led to a rule that will help protect people living near industrial facilities from a very real cancer risk,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. “This is a win for residents in Zelienople, Erie, and beyond living near these sterilization facilities.” EPA in finalizing the rule considered the latest data and science - including risk assessments conducted at both Pennsylvania facilities - while taking into account the importance of a safe and reliable supply of medical sterilization devices for patients and hospitals. In developing the final rule, which GASP senior attorney John Baillie broke down in a watchdog report this past April, the EPA conducted extensive outreach to communities and stakeholders to ensure meaningful and extensive participation during the public comment period. EPA conducted public hearings, national webinars, and public meetings hosted by regional the agency's regional offices. The considerable feedback received from the three days of public hearings, as well as the more than 40,000 comments submitted to the rulemaking docket, both informed the final rule and demonstrated the strong need to issue these vital health protections. Based on this input, EPA improved the risk assessment and strengthened the standards to ensure risk reductions for surrounding communities. The final rule will address emissions at nearly 90 commercial sterilization facilities that are owned and operated by approximately 50 companies. Based on extensive input and review, EPA is finalizing the following amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants that: Establish standards for currently unregulated emissions, such as building leaks and chamber exhaust vents, to reduce cancer risk and account for technological developments in pollution control. Strengthen standards that are on the books for sources such as sterilization chamber vents and aeration room vents. Require continuous emissions monitoring and quarterly reporting for most commercial sterilizers that will provide communities, states, Tribes, and local governments, and EPA with data to ensure EtO emissions are not entering the outdoor air. Ensure that sterilizers are subject to emission standards during periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction so there is continuous clean air protection. Other clarifying items including electronic reporting and technical revisions EPA said this final rule for commercial sterilizers is one of a series of coordinated actions it is taking to reduce exposure to EtO. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs is also working on a comprehensive set of new mitigation measures for EtO to reduce exposure for workers who use ethylene oxideto sterilize products. EPA has been working to support alignment of today's Clean Air Act rule with the action being taken under FIFRA. EPA is also working to strengthen standards to reduce ethylene oxide and other toxic pollutants from chemical plants. Other actions to address ethylene oxide emissions and advance associated research include: Investigating additional sources of ethylene oxide (e.g., stand-alone warehouses) and opportunities for emissions controls. Enforcing existing regulations as appropriate. Conducting research to better understand and measure ethylene oxide

Last August we blogged about proposed revisions to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) for Integrated Iron and Steel Manufacturing Facilities, including U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock. We are pleased to let you know that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has finalized the revisions, which have been published in the Federal Register and take effect on June 3. As a reminder, the new standards require that each integrated iron and steel manufacturing facility install four fence line monitors to detect fugitive emissions of chromium (which will serve as a proxy for all fugitive emissions of all metallic HAPs) and to take action to reduce such emissions if monitored levels exceed a yet-to-be-established threshold that will not exceed one microgram of chromium per cubic meter (1 µg/m3). EPA estimates that once implemented, the measures required by the proposed revisions will reduce emissions of HAPs from the integrated iron and steel manufacturing sector by 79 tons per year, at a total sector-wide cost of $2.8 million. Unfortunately, EPA did not break down expected emission reductions on a facility-by-facility basis. “The final standards mirror the proposed revisions except in one notable respect: The final standards did not adopt proposed reduction in limits on the opacity of emissions from blast furnace cast houses and basic oxygen process furnaces that were included in the proposed revisions,” GASP senior attorney John Baillie said.

A reddish-brown plume of smoke that streamed out of U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson plant in June 2020 prompted air quality complaints and outcry from residents and environmental groups alike. The incident did not, however, spur a notice of violation or other enforcement action from the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD). Or at least any that has been made public. Let us explain. While ACHD did issue an NOV to U.S. Steel regarding exceedances of emissions limits at the plant on two other dates, no further information has been released from the department on when, exactly, the facility would be forced to come into compliance with local and federal air quality laws. Many of you joined us last year in demanding a substantive update from ACHD about a Notice of Violation and Noncompliance issued jointly way back in November of 2017 by ACHD and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In that notice, both regulatory agencies noted that multiple violations of both county and federal rules were noted at the Braddock facility from 2016 through July 2017. In fact, a November 2017 ACHD press release regarding the NOV stated in part: “The nature of the violations includes excessive visible emissions, failure to maintain equipment and failure to certify compliance with the plant’s Title V operating permit. To enhance the Health Department’s enforcement efforts, ACHD has actively engaged the EPA over the course of the last nine months. The EPA brings an expanded level of federal expertise, as well as additional enforcement capacity that will support stronger action by utilizing the Department of Justice and EPA’s capacity to enact more stringent penalties.” ACHD officials at the time said the cooperative effort would maximize resources to ensure the plant got back into compliance. But they’ve stayed mum since, telling reporters that it could not comment on pending legal matters and indicating that the EPA has the jurisdiction when it comes to dissemination of information related to the case. We hope you will join us now in taking our fight for information and transparency to the EPA. “The bottom line is that the 2017 notice of violation was expected to begin the process of determining the necessary penalties and eventual equipment improvements that would return the plant to compliance with federal and county air quality pollution requirements,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini explained. “Yet, here we are nearly four years later and we know nothing more than we did way back when.” To be clear: The only available information on the progress regarding Edgar Thomson’s compliance issues – and what mitigation efforts will be undertaken by the steel-making giant to ensure that incidents like the one with the billowing reddish-brown plume don’t happen again – is an ACHD compliance status report current as of Jan. 1, 2020, indicating merely that the Edgar is “Non-Compliant.” And we don’t think that’s nearly enough disclosure. “We understand that it’s an ongoing case. But the EPA needs to realize that residents have been living with air pollution emanating from U.S. Steel for years – decades – with little to no relief,” Filippini said. “While regulators are working behind closed doors to resolve this years-old notice of violation, the public bearing the brunt of the associated pollution have been left completely in the dark. Residents have been patient long enough. They deserve to know when – and how – the Mon Valley’s most prolific air polluter will be required to clean up its act.” For these reasons, GASP is formally calling on EPA to provide to the public a substantive update on what improvements have and will be required of U.S. Steel to bring its Edgar Thomson plant back into compliance with air quality regulations and what penalty – if any – the company will be assessed. We urge you to sign our petition here: Editor's Note: The petition is now closed. Thanks to everyone who signed.

Clean Air Fairs are flexible educational opportunities to help school-age students better understand local air quality. Clean Air Fairs can be customized to best fit your organization’s needs. Fairs can be structured either as a presentation or as a drop-in fair with activity tables. The presentation, featuring GASP’s air quality educator and English with his puppets, covers topics like our region’s history with air quality, ways to learn about air quality (monitoring, bioindicators, etc.), and air’s impact on health. The drop-in activity fair is a great fit for a local park or in combination with another event – children will interact with the puppets as well as air quality education activities, like learning about air quality’s effect on the respiratory system using real pig lungs. To learn more about partnering with GASP on a Clean Air Fair, contact Laura Kuster at laura@gasp-pgh.org. GASP’s Clean Air Fairs and education kits are made possible by funding from the Allegheny County Clean Air Fund and the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Environmental Education Grants Program.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 9:25 a.m. on Thursday, July 29 to include additional information about an air quality exceedance that occurred on Wednesday, July 28. The associated chart was also updated to reflect the new data. Hydrogen sulfide concentrations at Allegheny County Health Department’s air quality monitors in Liberty and North Braddock boroughs were sky-high Tuesday morning – so high that by 10 a.m. exceedances of the state’s 24-hour average standard were guaranteed. On Wednesday, Liberty experienced another H2S exceedance, with the North Braddock monitor seeing concentrations that were right up to but not over the regulatory limit. That makes 33 exceedances of the H2S standard in the past seven months at the Liberty air quality monitor and 12 at North Braddock. “For perspective, that’s already more H2S exceedances than in all of 2020 and just three shy of making this the worst year we’ve seen since 2017,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “Clearly, we have an issue here – one that health officials are remiss in not addressing publicly.” GASP is again calling on – nay, demanding – ACHD publicly address these exceedances – both in general and as they happen. For the uninitiated: Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S for short, is a colorless gas that’s recognizable by its rotten-egg odor. It’s a stench that those in the Mon Valley – and folks downwind of it – deal with all too often. “Residents are routinely impacted by the pungent odor and deserve to be informed about what’s going on at U.S. Steel’s facilities to cause the H2S issue, as well as what the department is doing to hold the company accountable,” Filippini said. “They also deserve to know when there have been H2S air quality exceedances. That kind of public disclosure helps build trust and helps hold polluters responsible.” Enough’s enough, ACHD. There has been no update regarding the April 1 notice of violation (NOV) issued to U.S. Steel for prior exceedances of the hydrogen sulfide ambient air quality standard at the Liberty monitor. That NOV covers 25 exceedances in 2020 and seven more from the first quarter of 2021. It did NOT include eight exceedances of Pennsylvania’s 24-hour H2S standard that occurred at the North Braddock air quality monitor from December 2020 through March 2021. The public is also in the dark on the current status of the joint notice of violation issued to U.S. Steel by the health department and the Environmental Protection Agency in 2017 covering issues at the Edgar Thomson facility. “We understand that issues connected to that NOV are still ongoing but certainly there must be some details that officials could share with the public,” Filippini said. “It’s been years since there’s been an update, yet troubling emissions issues continue at the facility in Braddock. Residents deserve better – and at the very least they deserve an update.”

You’re Invited! WHEN: 3 p.m. Aug. 14 WHERE: Clairton Park (Shelter 3) COST: Free! GASP is pleased to sponsor the event, which will feature the internationally recognized puppet master as he manipulates his handmade creations crafted from recycled materials. The event is slated for 3 p.m. Aug. 14 at Clairton Park (Shelter 3). It’s a unique form of storytelling through a hybrid of puppetry and hip hop for children of all ages. Bonus: Stick around after the show to visit GASP’s clean air education table for kids featuring fun activities and a guest appearance from our friend and local puppeteer Dave English along with his sidekick Dirty Gertie the Poor Polluted Birdie. So, bring your family, some lawn chairs or picnic blankets, and join us for some fun. Note: The shelter is equipped with picnic tables for those who’d prefer to be seated under the shelter, which is located across from the ballfields. Driving? Parking is available along the road near the shelter.