Can we get a drumroll, please? Because we’re thrilled to unveil our Fresh Voices - Oral History Project , which engaged high school students and GASP staff in documenting the lived experiences of Allegheny County residents concerning local air quality.  Through interviews, we are collecting firsthand accounts to create an oral history archive that illuminates the historical and personal dimensions of air quality in the region. Over the past several months, our Fresh Voices for Clean Air participants had the privilege of sitting down with some truly incredible people – from Pittsburgh public broadcasting legend Rick Sebak to long-time residents who have witnessed firsthand the changes in our air and passionate environmental activists dedicated to making a difference.  Each conversation provided unique and powerful insight into the realities of living in an area with generational air quality issues, revealing both the challenges faced and the enduring hope for a healthier environment. Why Oral Histories? It’s simple: We believe real stories have the power to educate, inspire, and drive change. While scientific data is absolutely crucial, it's the personal narratives that truly bring serious public health issues to life.  By helping to curate these stories, we hope to: Preserve local history Humanize air quality issues and Empower community voices Inform future advocacy A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Participants! We would be remiss if we didn’t stop here and extend a HUGE thank you to every single person who has participated in this year’s Fresh Voices project so far.  “Your willingness to open up and share your experiences, memories, and insights has been truly invaluable,” GASP Project and Education Manager Laura Kuster said.  Through the process of curating these stories, our Fresh Voices students not only learned more about the decades-long fight for clean air - they also honed research, interviewing, video, and photography skills. Take A Listen! Go ahead, grab your headphones and get comfy and take a listen.

Earlier this year we blogged about how the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided exemptions from several National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) that became effective in 2024.   We even predicted that the exemptions were a prelude to those NESHAPs being repealed. Unfortunately, sometimes our predictions come true.   The EPA on June 17 published a proposed rule that would repeal amendments that were made in 2024 to strengthen NESHAPs for coal-fired electric generating units .   Most significantly, EPA has proposed the repeal of a standard for emissions of filterable particulate matter from coal-fired EGUs. Filterable particulate matter is a surrogate measure for all metallic hazardous air pollutants (excluding mercury) emitted by coal-fired EGUs.   The 2024 NESHAPs reduced the emission limit for filterable particulate matter from coal-fired electric generating units from 0.03 pounds per million BTUs down to 0.01 lbs.   And there will be impacts here in our corner of the Keystone State - there are still five coal-fired EGUs operating in western Pennsylvania.   Each of these facilities would have  had to reduce its emissions of filterable particulate matter from 0.03 lbs/MMBtu to 0.01 lbs/MMBtu to meet the emission standard that EPA proposes to repeal.   The basis for the proposed repeal? The cost for facilities to comply with the filterable particulate matter emission limit. EPA can take cost-effectiveness into account when it reviews new control technologies for hazardous air pollutants, as it must every eight years under the Clean Air Act.   In its proposed rule, EPA estimates that the cost of measures required for some plants to comply with the to-be repealed standard is $10.5 million per ton of non-mercury HAPs, which exceeds the EPA’s threshold for cost-effectiveness. That exceeds the EPA’s threshold for cost-effectiveness, based on proposed emission standards that were rejected in 2015 and 2020: In 2015, EPA determined that emission controls for petroleum refineries that would have removed fPM at the cost of $10 million per ton were not cost effective, and in 2020 EPA determined that emission controls for iron and steel manufacturing facilities that would have removed fPM at the cost of $7 million per ton were not cost effective.  “EPA’s discretion to make determinations like this is pretty much unlimited under the Clean Air Act, and underscores just how important who controls the administrative branch in Washington is to how much pollution is in the air we breathe,” said GASP’s Senior Attorney John Baillie.      As part of its proposed rule EPA is also asking to repeal a requirement that coal-fired electric generating units demonstrate compliance with the filterable particulate matter emission standard by using a continuous emission monitoring system and a standard for mercury emissions from those that burn lignite (almost all of which are located in the western United States). EPA is accepting comments on the proposed rule through August 11.   EPA prefers that comments be submitted at https://www.regulations.gov .   Submit your comments under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0794, and reference that docket number in your comments themselves. GASP continues to follow this issue closely and will keep you posted.

The high-profile, multi-billion-dollar takeover of U.S. Steel by Japanese-based Nippon has been finalized, the companies announced Wednesday. GASP staff is reviewing available details.  But here’s what we know right now via a U.S. Steel press release: Under the NSA, the U.S. Government and the Companies have agreed to measures to protect U.S. national security, including, among others, the following commitments by the Companies: Investment  - Nippon Steel will make approximately $11 billion in new investments in U. S. Steel by 2028, which includes an initial investment in a greenfield project that will be completed after 2028; U.S. Headquarters  - U. S. Steel will remain a U.S.-incorporated entity and will maintain its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; U.S. Board  - A majority of the members of U. S. Steel’s board of directors will be U.S. citizens; U.S. Management  - U. S. Steel’s key management personnel, including its CEO, will be U.S. citizens; U.S. Production  - U. S. Steel will maintain capacity to produce and supply steel from its U.S. production locations to meet market demand in the U.S.; and U. S. Steel Autonomous Trade  - Nippon Steel will not prevent, prohibit, or otherwise interfere with U. S. Steel’s ability to pursue trade action under U.S. law Pursuant to the NSA and through the ownership of the Golden Share, the U.S. Government will have certain rights, including, among others: The right to appoint one independent director; and Consent rights of the President of the United States, or his designee, on specific matters, including: Reductions in the committed capital investments under the NSA; Changing U. S. Steel’s name and headquarters; Redomiciling U. S. Steel outside of the United States; Transfer of production or jobs outside of the United States; Material acquisitions of competing businesses in the United States; and Certain decisions on closure or idling of U. S. Steel’s existing U.S. manufacturing facilities, trade, labor, and sourcing outside of the United States. \ Here's media coverage of the deal: U.S. Steel, Nippon finalize $14.9B merger, security agreement | TribLIVE.com Done Deal: The Sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel is Complete  | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Nippon Steel finalizes $15B takeover of US Steel after sealing security agreement - ABC News Nippon Steel's purchase of U.S. Steel closes, with big role for Trump | Reuters Nippon Steel Closes Its $14.1 Billion Acquisition of US Steel (X) - Bloomberg

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. The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) has taken enforcement action against two companies for asbestos abatement-related violations and a resident for open burning infractions. While many people think asbestos is a thing of the past, it’s still very much a public health issue here in Allegheny County. Exposure to airborne asbestos fibers can cause serious health issues including asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and pleural disease. And there is no safe minimum level of exposure to asbestos. An estimated 10,000 cases of asbestos-related disease occur each year in the U.S. as a result of past exposures. ACHD on April 25 issued an $8,000 penalty to Grandview South Homes, Mistick Construction Company, Hilltop Alliance, and Gatesburg Road Development for failing to provide notification of the state of demolition activities at The Grandview South Homes Project. By way of background: The Grandview South Homes Project is a publicly funded, urban renewal project involving the demolition of eight structures in the Allentown neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The demolition activity for this urban renewal project requires notification 10 days prior to the start of demolition activities.  We want to note that this is not the first time that Mistick Construction appeared on the ACHD enforcement docket. ACHD also took asbestos-related enforcement action against the company in 2022 . The company was also issued a warning of violation letter that year. You can read the entire enforcement document here. The enforcement action has been appealed. You can read t he appeal document here. The department on May 23 suspended the asbestos abatement license for Green Development after its manager Naydia Green reportedly submitted false information to ACHD through an asbestos abatement permit application and demolition notice for a publicly funded project in Wilkinsburg.  According to the enforcement document: The false or inaccurate information included work practices listed in the application were not being utilized and that air monitoring was to take place and there was no air monitoring occurring.  The municipally funded demolition activity at 1402 Hill Avenue requires notification ten days prior to the start of demolition activities. Green Development failed to notify ACHD of demolition activity 10 days prior to the start of work for the structure at 1402 Hill Street.  To have its asbestos abatement contractor license reinstated, Green Development must submit a compliance plan “describing how they will correct all compliance issues and demonstrate an ability and willingness to comply with all Article XXI Requirements and to not submit false information to ACHD.” You can read the entire enforcement document here. ACHD also took enforcement action against William Lysaght of South Park, who the department said was burning wooden furniture at his residence. ACHD issued a $935 civil penalty in the wake of repeated open burning complaints from neighbors. For the uninitiated: No material other than untreated clean wood, propane, or natural gas may be burned per ACHD open burning regs. You can read the entire enforcement document here.

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. Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) recently issued fines against two Neville Island facilities for air quality violations - Lindy Paving and INEOS. ACHD on April 25 slapped INEOS Composites with a $17,825 fine for three violations that occurred in 2024: Exceeding the short-term emissions limit for carbon monoxide during compliance testing of the facility’s thermal oxidizer  Exceeding the hourly emissions limit for particulate matter (PM10) during that compliance testing. Continuing to operate the thermal oxidizer when it was out of compliance. For the uninitiated: INEOS manufactures and sells polyester and vinyl ester resins, gelcoats and low-profile additives for the plastics industry. You can read the entire enforcement order here. ACHD on April 25 also fined Lindy Paving $1,500 for failing to report a breakdown that occured at the company’s Neville Island facility on Aug. 8, 2024, that resulted in excess emissions. According to the enforcement order, Lindy did not provide ACHD with an initial breakdown report within 60 minutes, as required by its operating permit. The company also failed to provide a written follow-up report to the department within seven days as required by its permit. In fact, Lindy did not provide further information on the incident to ACHD until Oct. 3, 2024. You can read the entire enforcement order here. For folks unfamiliar with Lindy Paving: The company produces asphalt and concrete for the paving industry. It was unclear why there was such a long gap between when the violation occurred and when the enforcement actions were issued. Stay tuned. GASP continues to follow these enforcement issues closely and will keep you posted.

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) has issued $918,000 in new penalties against U.S. Steel for air quality violations at its Clairton Coke Works facility. The June 6 enforcement order shows that between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024, there were a total of 167 uncontrolled pushes at the Clairton facility at Batteries B, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20. Some necessary background: Pushing is generally the operation by which coke that has completed the coking cycle is mechanically pushed from a coke oven into a traveling car and transported to a quench station where the coke is cooled with water.  During normal operation of the coke oven batteries 13, 14, 15, 19 and 20 at the Clairton Coke Plant, a fume collection hood is moved into place above the hot car outside the door of a coke oven at the completion of the coking cycle for that oven. B Battery is equipped with a shed enclosure that captures pushing emissions. The door on the side of the oven where the hot car is located is then removed prior to pushing coke from the oven.  Pushing emissions from the traveling hood or shed are vented to the battery’s baghouses. Emissions occur during the pushing operation from activities such as the physical movement of the coke mass from the oven, dropping of coke into the hot car, or partial combustion of coke due to the high temperature of the coke contacting ambient air.  So, that’s what should have happened. Here’s what happened at Clairton, according to the enforcement order: The Clairton Coke Plant has experienced process and equipment failures, which resulted in the traveling hood not being properly positioned above the hot car, a loss of suction to the baghouse, baghouse outage or other issues causing emissions not to be captured during the push. The pushing of coke from an oven without first capturing and ducting the emissions to a fully operational PEC baghouse is known as an “uncontrolled push.”  And it isn’t the first time the company has been fined for these types of violations. In 2022, ACHD issued a $4.6 million fine for 831 uncontrolled pushes at the Clairton facility. “This is more of the same from one of Allegheny County’s most prolific polluters,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. “Despite settlement agreements and promised upgrades to the Clairton Coke Works, the company continues to violate the terms of its permits and impact the health and quality of life for its neighbors.”

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) on Monday made public its finalized settlement agreement with U.S. Steel, giving residents the first look at details of an associated $2.46 million community trust. The nine-page document, dated Jan. 30, clarifies several details related to the trust, the communities it benefits, who will serve on a board overseeing it, and how meetings will be conducted and projects selected for funding. GASP in July submitted formal comments regarding the settlement agreement, suggesting specifically that the health department put the details related to the trust out for public comment. In a comment response document released Monday, the health department responded to that request, saying only: “Putting up the trust form to public comment is neither legally necessary nor efficient.” GASP also offered comments suggesting that the agreement specify who would administer the trust and advocated for the trust board to include a representative from each of the adjacent communities. While these details were not included in the original draft, they were incorporated into the final agreement. Now that the details of the trust have been made public, here are some key takeaways: The communities that will benefit from the trust include Clairton, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln, and Port Vue . Each of these communities will have a separate fund established. The U.S. Steel Community Benefit Trust funds will be allocated to the communities based on a methodology that takes into consideration population and area measured in square miles. Using that methodology, it was determined that Clairton will receive 26.7 percent of the funds, Lincoln will receive 21.9 percent, Glassport will receive $19.9 percent, Portvu will receive 16.3 percent, and Liberty will receive 15.1 percent. The U.S. Steel Community Benefit Trust will be governed by a board composed of one resident from each of the five communities “chosen by the respective adjacent communities in whatever manner they choose.” Each community will also select an alternate and ad hoc member to attend a meeting in instances where the primary member cannot. The board will meet in private, at a regular place and time at least once every six months. The agreement stipulates that these meetings must be listed on the official websites of each of the five communities at least 60 days in advance. The purpose of these meetings is to consider and approve projects for funding. To be considered, a project must be “anticipated to improve, protect, or reduce the risk to public health or the environment” and submitted to the board at least 30 days before a meeting. The money can go toward physical infrastructure improvements such as the construction of a playground or the renovation of green space. Projects that foster the “creation or expansion of programs that are aimed at directly improving the well-being of residents” will also be considered. Please note: While the settlement agreement addressed ongoing emissions problems at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, the associated supplemental environmental projects do not need to be related to air quality. At these meetings, majority rules. If for any reason a representative from one of the five communities is not available to attend and vote it will be “deemed an affirmative vote in favor of any matter before the trust distribution board for a vote at such a meeting.” The agreement also indicates that if the board votes to reject a project, “reasonable detail of the reasons” will be provided. Once a project is approved, the distribution of funds will occur within 30 days. Updates about the progress of each project will be provided at each subsequent meeting. The agreement also includes language that gives the board the authority to terminate funding of projects “that have been improperly administered.” Smithfield Trust Co. will be paid $3,000 per quarter to administer the fund. Semi-annual reports detailing receipts and disbursements will be submitted to each of the respective communities, which must post them to their official websites within 60 days of receipt. Copies of these reports, to be submitted on Jan. 31 and July 31 annually, will also be sent to the Allegheny County Health Department and U.S. Steel. “Given the establishment of this community benefit trust was a brand-new way of supporting the communities most impacted by air pollution from the Clairton Coke Works, it would have behooved the health department to put the specific details related to it out for public comment,” said Rachel Filippini, Executive Director of GASP.  “The establishment of this trust is significant for the community, and we wanted to be sure they got it right.”

Friends, it’s been a week. Regionally, we’ve dealt with Canadian wildfire smoke impacts, and the Mon Valley has suffered through five straight days of stench and crazy elevated hydrogen sulfide concentrations. Then on Tuesday came the big news: There was a breakdown at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works facility Monday evening that knocked out pollution control equipment that removes dangerous chemicals like H2S and ammonia from coke oven gas. Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) sent out a news release Tuesday afternoon announcing the incident. You can read more about that here. But we wanted to flag five things we think you need to know about the incident. The incident took place around 7 p.m. in Control Room 5, which was shut down for repairs through 3:05 a.m. That means that only partially cleaned coke oven gas spewed from the facility for eight hours. During this incident, there was a “significant” spike in H2S. How significant? Consider this: The highest hourly H2S concentrations measured at ACHD’s Liberty air quality monitor happened at 9 p.m. Monday at 32 ppb (that’s parts per billion). Usually, people can smell H2S (that rotten egg odor) at 5 ppb (which is also the 24-hour average limit in PA). The health department indicated that Allegheny County is “normally below 1 ppb.”  There were also spiking levels of sulfur dioxide during the breakdown. According to ACHD data, the highest hourly SO2 concentration during the breakdown was 47 ppb at 10 p.m. Monday. As a comparison, SO2 was at just 1 ppb at the same monitoring location at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Control Room 5 was also one of three at the Clairton Coke Works that experienced an outage during the July 4, 2022 , breakdown as well as the high-profile Christmas Eve fire in 2018. Electrical issues were at the root of those breakdowns. ACHD’s news release indicated that U.S. Steel submitted an initial breakdown report, but did not note whether it was received within the one-hour window required by Clairton Coke Works’ Title V permit. The company has seven days from the date of the incident to submit a follow up report to ACHD. GASP staff continues to follow these issues closely. We plan to submit a public records request to get further details on what happened, when they happened, and whether or not U.S. Steel followed protocol. Stay tuned.

Allegheny County Council met again this week, and AGAIN, the air quality permit fee schedule changes long sought by the health department were not among the action items on the agenda. This lack of action comes in the wake of months of pressure from environmental advocates, residents and even public officials. And it’s absolutely outrageous. GASP submitted written comments to council in advance of its Tuesday meeting that you can read here. For those just tuning in: ACHD has been delegated the authority to enforce both federal and state laws and regulations pertaining to the control of air pollution in Allegheny County and the federal Clean Air Act requires that ACHD have adequate funding and personnel to carry out that authority. The Clean Air Act also requires that ACHD’s program for Title V facilities charge fees that are sufficient to cover the cost of administering the program. Since it has become clear funding ACHD receives from the county and commonwealth are also insufficient to cover the cost of administering the non-Title V side of ACHD’s Air Quality Program, it is entirely appropriate that the polluting facilities that require time and resources from the Air Quality Program pay fees that cover the cost of that time and those resources. County should not be subsidizing the costs of doing business in Allegheny County for industry. And right now, that’s what’s going on.  It’s wild that certain members of council have made this in any way a controversial vote. Because it isn’t dramatic. The fees aren’t a tax. They aren’t punitive. There’s nothing to negotiate. The new fees are based on actual costs. It’s simple budgeting, people. We know we’ve been asking yinz for MONTHS to reach out to your reps and urge them to vote YES and we thank you so much for your action and your passion. Unfortunately, we need to ask for your help one more time. As a reminder, we need 10 county council members to vote yes for this thing to pass. Right now, it is out understanding that these three members are on the fence and could use some more encouragement from us all to vote YES: President Pat Catena    Robert Palmosina   Jordan Botta  (newly appointed to replace outgoing councilman David Bonorati. The ask?  Get the air quality permit fee schedule changes on the agenda at your next meeting and then get it on the table for a real, substantive discussion and possible vote. This has been on council’s plate for months, the changes have been affirmatively recommended at every point in the approval process, and to stop hiding behind procedure and do their jobs.

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.  The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) in April issued U.S. Steel a demand for stipulated penalties in the amount of $216,325 for air quality violations that occurred at the Clairton Coke Works between Oct. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023. While the demand was dated April 18, it was only recently posted to the ACHD enforcement docket. The demand letter details the various types of violations and includes myriad charts and graphs - you can check it out here. “It’s disturbing to see how U.S. Steel’s compliance has plummeted - especially when it comes to leaking coke oven doors,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. “And despite all its talk and TV and radio ads hailing itself as a good neighbor, they are still racking up penalties related to hydrogen sulfide, which has been not only a quality of life matter but a public health matter than needs to be addressed ASAP.” Per the terms of a 2019 settlement agreement between ACHD and the company, 90 percent of the fine ($194,692.50) will go to a Community Benefit Trust that you can read more about here. The remaining 10 percent ($21,632) will go to ACHD as a civil penalty. However, the demand letter also included this verbiage: The Department and U.S. Steel are in negations of previous demands and will address any remaining settlement credits through the dispute resolution process or future demands. GASP continues to follow U.S. Steel enforcement issues closely and will keep you posted as more information becomes available.