The community is coming together to help support Erie Coke Corp. employees who are out of jobs following an abrupt announcement by the company Thursday that it was shutting down operations there following a series of environmental compliance issues that had corporate lawyers sparring with regulators in a protracted legal battle over air emissions, and later, with local authorities over wastewater. On Sunday, the City of Erie tweeted that because of several requests from the community, City Hall would be open and ready to accept donations from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today (Monday, Dec. 23) and from 8:30 a.m. to noon tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 24). “You can leave your donations at the greeter’s desk, and we’ll make sure the workers get them,” the city’s tweet read. Checks can be made payable to USW local 3199. Donations of gifts, gift cards, food, or “whatever moves you” will be accepted. City officials said that further questions on how to help support workers can be directed to the USW’s Todd Clary at tclary@usw.org. The announcement from the City of Erie came after a statement was released by Erie Council regarding Erie Coke Corp’s decision to close its doors. Council was clear: There’s no one to blame for the closure except Erie Coke itself. The statement, which was published in its entirety by Erie News Now, read in part: “The decision by Erie Coke to close its doors does not demonstrate the kind of corporate responsibility Erie Countians expect from employers in our region. Municipal governments throughout Erie County have been more than patient in waiting for Erie Coke to comply with basic environmental regulations over the past 22 years. Erie County Council is greatly concerned for the 137 workers who are now out of a job. While some might be tempted to blame municipal governments for this closure, the responsibility is with Erie Coke. Erie County government and all other municipal governments are charged with protecting the health and welfare of our citizens. Demanding the Erie Coke put the health of Erie County citizens before its own profits is not unreasonable, it is moral.” To read more about Erie Council’s response to the closure, click here to read coverage from Erie News Now. To read about why a Pennsylvania judge froze $1 million in Erie Coke Corp.’s assets, click here for coverage from GoErie.com. To read more about how wastewater issues stymied the company, click here for coverage from GoErie.com. To read more about how Erie Coke Corp. will shut down the plant, click here for coverage from GoErie.com. #ErieCoke #ToddClary #ErieCokeCorp #USWPost3199 #GoEriecom #ErieCountyCouncil #CityofErie

Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) officials announced that they took two temporary air quality monitors installed in Clairton and West Mifflin to measure sulfur dioxide levels offline. The department announced the following in an Allegheny Alert issued Friday afternoon: After a fire at the Clairton Coke Works on Dec. 24, 2018, ACHD’s air quality program installed temporary monitors in Clairton and West Mifflin to measure Sulfur dioxide levels (SO2) while the plant’s pollution controls were down. The plant’s pollution controls have been back online since April of 2019. As a result, the air quality program disabled these two monitors during the week of Dec.16. Measurements at both monitors when online were far below the hourly SO2 standard, which is 0.075 parts per million (ppm). #SO2 #sulfurdioxide #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #ACHD #ClairtonCokeWorks #airquality

Media Contact: Amanda Gillooly Communications Manager Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) amanda@gasp-pgh.org 412-924-0604 x206 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GASP Unveils Michelle Madoff Award of Environmental Excellence Honorees in Advance of 50th Anniversary Gala PITTSBURGH – The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) today announced the recipients of its Michelle Madoff Award of Environmental Excellence, which honors five outstanding women currently working to improve the environment of southwestern Pennsylvania. A panel of judges composed of GASP staff and board members selected the winners of the award—named after the organization’s founder and first president—from a pool of candidates nominated for consideration in five categories: business, community organizing, education, media, and medicine. “GASP was fortunate to receive many excellent nominations,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “The women who’ve been named Michelle Madoff Award of Environmental Excellence awardees truly represent the best of the best when it comes to environmental stewardship.” The award winners include: Laura Nettleton for the business award, which honors the owner, manager, or sustainability coordinator for a local business. She is the owner of Thoughtful Balance, a Pittsburgh-based architectural firm specializing in resilient and low-energy design. During her career, which spans more than 30 years, Nettleton discerned the ever-developing demand for sustainable, efficient homes “before this important niche of the residential market had so evolved.” Ranging from the 2014 North American Passive House Conference, San Francisco, CA, to the 2016 Passive House Conference in Darmstadt, Germany, her speaking engagements confirm her wide recognition as a leader in architectural innovation who has materially influenced the evolution of this growing market segment. Nettleton, who earned an undergraduate degree in arts/psychology/art history at the Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Oregon, was called a pioneer by her nominators. Eva Resnick-Day for the community organizing award, which celebrates a woman who brings people together in the fight for a healthy environment. She currently serves as a community organizer with the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign, which aims to bring the City of Pittsburgh to 100 percent renewable, clean energy through a path that centers on equity and meets the concerns of the area’s most vulnerable communities—as well as the workers who are, or will be, impacted by an energy transition. Resnick-Day’s involvement in the environmental movement dates back to 2010, when she worked as an organizer for a city-wide fracking ban. She worked with Greenpeace prior to her tenure at Sierra Club. She said she’s “thrilled to be fighting for a brighter future for Pittsburgh.” When she’s not out trying to make the world a better place, the Taylor Allderdice alumna can be found singing and mountain climbing. Resnick-Day, who earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh, was called a “force of nature” by nominators. Patricia Himes for the education award, which lauds a woman who helps connect people with nature. She currently serves as a naturalist educator at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and can typically be found in parks, streams, woodlands, and meadows helping kids connect with nature. After all, she discovered one of her true loves—nature—playing in Clarion County’s forests and streams growing up. Himes earned an undergraduate degree in biology to further her understanding of nature, and then a master’s degree in education to help her share her “love and curiosity of the diverse, beautiful, magical world.” She was called a game-changer by nominators. Kristina Marusic for the media award, which honors a female member of the media who shares important news about the state of the environment. A reporter for Environmental Health News, she covers issues related to environmental health and justice, with a focus on western Pennsylvania. Prior to her tenure there, Marusic worked as a freelance journalist covering issues such as social and environmental justice, activism, politics, and LGBTQ equality. Her bylines appeared in myriad media outlets, including the Washington Post, CNN, Slate, Vice, and MTV News. Marusic earned her undergraduate degree in creative writing from Hofstra University and her master’s degree in creative nonfiction writing from San Francisco University. Nominators mentioned her investigative project “Breathless,” which dug into data on childhood asthma and air pollution revealing a regional epidemic: While the national average for childhood asthma is 8 percent, around 22 percent of kids in Pittsburgh’s most polluted neighborhoods have the disease. Her nominators called Marusic fearless. Dr. Deborah Gentile for the medicine award, which celebrates a medical professional who helps connect symptoms to possible environmental causes. She currently serves as medical director at Allergy and Asthma Wellness Centers and Director of Allergy and Asthma Services at East Suburban Pediatrics.   She completed medical school, pediatric residency and allergy/immunology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. She previously worked at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Allegheny Health Network and Pediatric Alliance, respectively. Her recent research efforts have focused on evaluating asthma outcomes and triggers in disparate children from the Pittsburgh Region. Her work identified a strong association between exposure to elevated levels of outdoor air pollution and increased asthma prevalence and poor disease control in these children.  She currently has funding from the Heinz Endowments to support this work. Dr. Gentile has authored more than 60 publications and is the recipient of numerous awards for her research efforts. She is a past president of the local and state allergy societies and is a member of numerous professional organizations. Nominators called her work life-changing. Full bios for the winners can be viewed here. These outstanding women will be honored at GASP’s 50th Anniversary gala, which will be held from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the historic Rodef Shalom Congregation in Oakland. The event will also feature live music, food and drinks, and a silent auction. Tickets are $80 a person or $150 a couple and can be purchased online here. All proceeds benefit GASP’s legal, educational, and advocacy endeavors. “Turning 50 is really significant,” Filippini said. “GASP has done so much over the past five decades to help improve the region’s air quality. We can’t wait to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished with our friends and supporters, and look forward to another 50 years of making a difference.” GASP is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit citizens’ group in southwestern Pennsylvania working for a healthy, sustainable environment. Founded in 1969, GASP has been a diligent watchdog, educator, litigator, and policy-maker on many environmental issues, with a focus on air quality in the Pittsburgh region. ### #PatriciaHimes #MichelleMadoffAwardsofEnvironmentalExcellence #EvaResnickDay #RodefShalomCongregation #MichelleMadoff #DeborahGentile #RachelFilippini #KristinaMarusic #LauraNettleton

The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) put its thoughts on Allegheny County Health Department’s proposed revisions to its air quality permit fees on the record at a public hearing Monday morning at the Clack Health Center. GASP staff attorney Ned Mulcahy provided the following remarks: “Good morning. I am here on behalf of the Group Against Smog and Pollution to deliver verbal comments regarding the Allegheny County Health Department’s proposed revisions of Article XXI Sections Related to Air Quality Permit Fees. GASP will also be submitting formal written comments by the end of today. GASP believes revisions to the fee schedule are necessary for the Air Quality Program to be able to fulfill its mission of protecting air quality in Allegheny County. A lack of funding from regulated and government sources should not impede the Air Quality Program’s essential work. While GASP largely supports the proposed revisions, we believe some elements of the proposal should be examined in greater detail and revised before submitting the revisions for approval by the Board of Health and County Council. ACHD’s proposed revisions would significantly overhaul Article XXI’s fee schedule for the Air Quality Program.  The changes include: Replacing ACHD’s existing annual permit administration fee for operating permits with an annual permit maintenance fee; Establishing application fees for general installation permits and operating permits; and Establishing new fees covering applications for: plant-wide applicability limits; ambient air impact modeling done in connection with certain plan approval applications; risk assessments; and requests for determination.This approach would allow ACHD to maintain a fee schedule for its Air Quality Program consistent with the fee schedule proposed this past spring by the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board for the Department of Environmental Protection’s Air Quality Bureau. However, the differences between ACHD’s proposal and the EQB’s proposal regarding the authorization to act, the sufficiency of the fees, and the amount of the fees should be examined and possibly revised. As to authorization –The Technical Support Document for the proposed revisions does not identify the legal basis for County Council’s authority to adopt these revisions, but GASP believes such authority exists. Allegheny County’s Home Rule Charter generally provides the County with the authority to exercise all powers not denied by the Pennsylvania Constitution, Pennsylvania’s statutory law, and the Home Rule Charter itself. There is no constitutional or statutory bar that would prevent County Council from making the proposed revisions to Article XXI. Even DEP’s 1998 Approval of Allegheny County’s Air Quality Program does not purport to limit Allegheny County’s power to establish fees to be charged by that Program. That said, ACHD should closely follow proceedings related to Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission comments on the EQB’s proposed fee revisions. The IRRC comments suggest the proposed fee structure generally might not be authorized by the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act. ACHD’s proposed fee revisions could be affected by the IRRC outcome. As to sufficiency and amount –ACHD was conspicuously silent on this point, and that is concerning. GASP believes that it is generally desirable for the fee schedule used by the Air Quality Program to be similar, if not identical, to the fee schedule used by DEP’s Bureau of Air Quality. But consistency is not the most important consideration in structuring the fee schedule. The fees for the Air Quality Program must be set so that they raise enough revenue to fund the Program’s operations, even if that means they are not consistent with DEP’s fee schedule. In addition, the Clean Air Act requires that the fees imposed on Title V sources in Allegheny County be “sufficient to cover all reasonable (direct and indirect) costs required to develop and administer” ACHD’s Title V permit program. Similarly, because ACHD’s Air Quality Program receives little or no funding from Allegheny County itself, the fees paid by non-Title V sources in the County must also generate sufficient revenue to fund the non-Title V side of the Program. If the proposed revisions to Article XXI’s are ultimately enacted by County Council as written, the Board of Health would be responsible for setting fees in amounts that will generate revenue sufficient to fund the operations of the Air Quality Program. The proposed revisions do not make this requirement clear. In addition, there is no requirement in the proposed revisions for calculating and adjusting the amount necessary to operate the Air Quality Program. Given that the operations of the Program and fees to cover those operations are dependent upon each other, the proposed revisions must spell out a method for managing that relationship. Thank you for your time.” GASP’s senior attorney, John Baillie, also submitted formal written comments. #TitleVoperatingpermit #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #permitfees #AlleghenyAlerts #ClackHealthCenter #airquality

In a legal document filed before the Environmental Hearing Board on Thursday, attorneys for the DEP noted that they are mulling a settlement offer from Erie Coke Corp. The filing comes in the wake of an order that summons both parties to attend an in-person settlement conference at 11 a.m. Friday. The filing, a letter dated Aug. 21, reads: “In regard to the Petition for Supersedeas pending before the Board, the Department declines to provide proposed conditions that vary from the applicable provisions of the Clean Air Act, the Air Pollution Control Act, the Regulations, and Erie Coke’s expired Title V Permit. For the Department to do otherwise would be inconsistent with its statutory and constitutional obligations. The Department is, however, willing to engage in settlement discussions of conditions consistent with these requirements. Regarding settlement of the appeal, the Department is currently considering Erie Coke’s most recent settlement counteroffer, which was transmitted to the Department on August 15, 2019. The Department plans to meet with Erie Coke in the near future to discuss the counteroffer. The parties will apprise the Board in a timely fashion if settlement is reached or if the parties agree that assistance from the Board would facilitate a resolution.” DEP’s letter can be viewed in its entirety here. No further information was immediately available. GASP is following the Environmental Hearing Board case, which will determine whether or not the company will be permitted to operate pending the appeal of its Title V permit – we’ll keep you posted as new details emerge. In the meantime, here’s some associated media coverage from Erie News Now. #DEP #EnvironmentalHearingBoard #ErieCokeCorp #TitleV

County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced in a press release Friday that Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), will be departing the county at the end of July. The press release indicated that she was leaving to take a position with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has accepted a position as director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). Dr. Hacker was hired in May 2013 and assumed the role of director of the health department in September of that year. According to the release, she has led her department’s work in air quality including putting more inspectors and environmental enforcement agents in place, instituting larger fines and taking strong regulatory actions to improve the air quality in the Mon Valley. Earlier this year, the department reported that the PM 2.5 levels at the Liberty monitor met the EPA standard for the first time. As director of NCCDPHP, Dr. Hacker will be the principal adviser on a national program for the prevention of premature mortality, morbidity, and disability due to chronic illnesses and conditions and promotes the overall health of the population. A member of CDC’s executive leadership team, she will be responsible for making long-term strategic decisions related to chronic disease prevention and health promotion. She will work out of the Atlanta, Georgia offices of the agency. It is unclear who will lead the ACHD as the county searches for a new director. It is GASP’s hope that the county will ensure the position is filled by someone who prioritizes environmental health. #PM25 #LibertyMonitor #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #DrKarenHacker #ACHD #airquality

Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board on April 13 published proposed amendments to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Air Quality Fee Schedule, which contains the fees that DEP charges to process applications for plan approvals and operating permits and to administer issued operating permits. Most significantly, the proposed amendments would: increase the fees for submitting many types of plan approvals beginning in 2020, with further increases to those fees set for 2026 and 2031; increase Title V and non-Title V operating permit application fees and annual administration fees, also beginning in 2020 with further increases set for 2026 and 2031; and impose fees for certain determinations and assessments that DEP regularly performs for regulated sources, including plant-wide applicability limit determinations, requests for determination, confidential business information determinations, risk assessments, and evaluations of asbestos removal notification forms. DEP’s fees for operating permit administration and operating permit and plan approval applications were last increased in 2005. The proposed amendments to the Air Quality Fee Schedule would not change the fee (of $91.32) that Title V sources pay on each ton of their annual emissions of regulated pollutants; by regulation, that fee is increased every year to keep pace with increases in the Consumer Price Index. The fee increases are intended to address revenue shortfalls that DEP’s Air Quality Program has experienced in recent years, resulting in reductions in staff and delays in permit processing times. GASP has detailed how these delays have affected the Title V Operating Permit programs in DEP’s regional offices in a recent blog post. According to the Environmental Quality Board, the proposed fee increases “will allow [DEP] to maintain staffing levels in the Air Quality Program as well as cover operating expenses such as telecommunications, electricity, travel, auto supplies and fuel along with the purchase of fixed assets such as air samplers and monitoring equipment, vehicles and trailers.” DEP determined the proposed fee amounts “by identifying the number of staff required and the approximate time necessary to complete each review or action, including the amount of salaries and benefits,” and compared them to the fees charged by air quality permitting authorities in Allegheny and Philadelphia Counties and neighboring states, according to the Environmental Quality Board. It is not surprising that it has become impossible for DEP to administer its air quality permitting program using a fee schedule that is based on taxing constantly decreasing emissions and that, to a large extent, is almost 25 years old. Expenditures by DEP’s air quality permitting programs currently exceed revenues by millions of dollars and will continue to do so unless the fees charged by the programs are increased. These revenue shortfalls have already resulted in job cuts to permitting staff, which in turn have caused delays in processing times for plan approval and operating permit applications. The revenue shortfalls might also negatively impact DEP’s ability to monitor compliance by sources across the commonwealth. The proposed amendments to DEP’s Air Quality Fee Schedule are an overdue step toward getting DEP’s air quality permitting programs back on sound financial footing. More information about the proposed amendments is available in the April 13, 2019 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Written comments regarding the proposed amendments will be accepted by the Environmental Quality Board by email through June 17, 2019, addressed to RegComments@pa.gov, and may also be submitted to the board using DEP’s eComment webpage, at https://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment/. #DepartmentofEnvironmentalProtection #EnvironmentalQualityBoard #TitleV #permits #emissions #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #DEP #ACHD #airquality

The board of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh is set Thursday to adopt the City’s “Clean Construction” guidelines. The guidelines require all city government construction projects costing $2.5 million or more to use diesel emission control strategies on construction vehicles, including the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. The guidelines require the use of the best available control technology, such as a diesel particulate filter, on all on-road vehicles, like dump trucks, and off-road equipment, such as backhoes and bulldozers, that are involved in the projects. The Clean Construction guidelines were introduced by then-City Councilman William Peduto in 2011 and then revised in 2016 to make them easier to follow for contractors. The McFarren Bridge project in the city’s Duck Hollow neighborhood was the first major project to come under the revised guidelines. The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) and other environmental advocates worked hard for that passage, and have long called for city-affiliated agencies such as the URA to adopt Clean Construction policies. “Adoption of this policy by the URA will have a positive impact on the environment and those working on and living near the construction projects, where the policy applies and is implemented,” says the resolution going before the board on Thursday. GASP lauds the proposed move. “GASP applauds the URA for adopting the City’s clean construction requirements for their own projects,” said Rachel Filippini, executive director of the Group Against Smog and Pollution. “Reducing diesel emissions, which are a significant source of air pollution known to cause cancer, is an important initiative that all city authorities and institutions that build in the city should take.” Pittsburgh United Executive Director Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy said, “We applaud the tireless work GASP has engaged in to push forward policies that improve our air and community’s health.” She continued: “Thanks to GASP, Pittsburgh continues to advance greener construction, helping to reduce harmful diesel pollution. We hope to see these guidelines – and other pollution-reducing remedies – adopted by all city authorities.” #BillPeduto #airpollution #UrbanRedevelopmentAuthority #RachelFilippini #DuckHollow #diesel #CleanConstruction #WilliamPeduto #URA #McFarrenBridge #dieselemissions #airquality

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on April 1 issued an administrative order to Erie Coke Works following a spill at its facility. According to the order, an initial 300-gallon spill occurred on March 18 because of a hole developing in a storage tank.  The hole was repaired the next day but a second spill on March 31 from the same tank – this time described as a “tank failure” – caused a “large volume of wastewater” to pond “in an area Northwest of the Tank bordered by railroad tracks to the North.” Erie News Now summarized DEP’s concerns: The wastewater contains, among other regulated substances, benzene, naphthalene, ammonia, and cyanide, the DEP said. According to the agency, Erie Coke committed several violations during the repair of the tank and the cleanup of the spill.  The incident constitutes unlawful conduct and the release of the wastewater creates a danger of pollution to the waters of the Commonwealth, according to DEP.” As a result: The DEP ordered Erie Coke to take the affected tank out of service and remove all wastewater before having certified professionals conduct what’s known as a tank tightness test within 10 days of the date of the order. The DEP also ordered Erie Coke to submit a plan to remove all wastewater from the tank within three days of the order. Within 60 days of the order, the DEP ordered that the wastewater/impacted soils and materials be properly characterized and disposed at a permitted facility. Then, within 45 days of the date of the administrative order, Erie Coke “shall inspect all piping, sensors, alarms, and containment structures associated with the tank to determine structural integrity. The DEP order also noted that the Erie Coke can appeal the issue to the Environmental Hearing Board. While GASP is encouraged to see DEP take swift action against a problem polluter, the Order leaves a few questions unanswered. First: Although DEP “inspected the facility and Erie Coke was repairing the SPR Tank” on March 19, how did the same tank fail just 12 days later? Additionally, DEP’s order cited “Erie Coke’s failure to tightness test the SPR Tank” after the April 1 repair. Was such a test not required after the March 19 repair? GASP is also concerned that further chemical analysis of the wastewater was not included in the order. GASP hopes that these issues and other community concerns are addressed promptly by DEP as officials are able to gather more technical facts related to the incident. #DepartmentofEnvironmentalProtection #benzene #ErieCokeCorp #administrativeorder #DEP #violations

Dangerous air quality and poor weather conditions led to a killer smog to form over Donora in 1948 that claimed the lives of 27 people and sickened scores more. In May, you’re invited to join GASP, Venture Outdoors, and the Donora Historical Society for a hike through history: Our trek will take hikers through the past, present, and future of air quality in southwestern Pennsylvania. Most specifically, our hike will allow participants to walk in the footprint of what was once Donora’s mighty Zinc Works, a facility that was perched along the Monongahela River. The walk will culminate in a trip to the Donora Smog Museum, where those in attendance will learn about the killer smog that choked the area during the Halloween weekend of 1948, and how the event helped inspire the clean air movement in the United States. Space is limited, so register now! Here’s what you need to know if you want to go: WHEN: 10 a.m. May 18 WHERE: Donora LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy PRICE: $10 or $5 for Venture Outdoors members HOW TO REGISTER: Those interested in attending may register now at the Venture Outdoors website. *Please note that registration includes lunch and admission to the Donora Smog Museum. #Donora #hikethroughhistory #VentureOutdoors #ZincWorks #DonoraSmogMuseum #smog #airquality