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.

The Allegheny County Health Department is investigating a breakdown at U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works facility last night, as well as elevated concentrations of both hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and sulfur dioxide (S02) at its Liberty air quality monitor, according to a press release issued Tuesday. Here is the statement: Statement from ACHD on US Steel's Clairton Coke Works Breakdown PITTSBURGH – Last evening there was an issue at the Clairton Coke Works in Clairton, according to breakdown reports submitted to the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) by US Steel. The reports indicate there was elevated sulfur levels in coke oven gas while repairs took place within a control room. The incident occurred on June 2nd at 7:08 pm and it was reported that all equipment was back online on June 3rd at 3:05 am. The preliminary report says during the breakdown, control room five was shut down and bypassed meaning that Coke oven gas was only partially treated by control rooms one and two. As a result, the gas produced during coke-making - called coke oven gas - was only partly cleaned by the remaining control systems. Control room five removes harmful chemicals like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from the gas. U.S. Steel has seven days to submit a full report explaining what happened. During the breakdown a significant spike of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide were measured at the ACHD Liberty Monitor.  The highest hourly H2S concentration measured at the ACHD Liberty Monitor occurred on June 2nd at 9:00 PM at 32 ppb. For H2S, the ability to smell it and the state regulatory level is 5 ppb. Allegheny County is normally below 1 ppb, see Hydrogen Sulfide - Allegheny County, PA. The highest hourly sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentration during the breakdown was 47 ppb on June 2nd at 10:00 pm. As a comparison, SO2 was at 1 ppb at the same location at 1:00 pm today. The Allegheny County Health Department is at Clairton for a pre-planned stack test today and is gathering additional information on the breakdown as well. For more information regarding issues within the Clairton Coke Works facility reach out to US Steel. The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) will continue to investigate the breakdown. ### Some needed context: This was the third straight day that H2S exceeded the state limit. And for those asking, “Yeah, but where is the H2S coming from exactly.”... According to a 2022 31-page study  conducted by the Allegheny County Health Department, several years’ worth of H2S exceedances in the Mon Valley “can be attributed entirely to emissions from U.S. Steel’s Clairton coking facility.”     Despite U.S. Steel scapegoating landfill facilities, we want to point out that the study also stated: “ACHD did not identify evidence of any other source contributing to the exceedances.” “Residents deserve to know why these air pollution events keep happening and more importantly what concrete steps are being taken to address this serious public health issue,” GASP Executive Director Patrick Campbell said. GASP thanks the department for its transparency and public facing communication on this and hope to see that trend continue. We continue to follow the issue closely and will update this blog as new details become available. Editor's Note: Wanna better understand our H2S issue? Here's an explainer that our team put together.

As the Biden administration was in its waning days this past January, we blogged about how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)   provided a waiver  for California’s emission standards for cars and light-duty trucks  - an action that would effectively ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars and light-duty trucks by model year 2035 in states like Pennsylvania  that adhere to those rules. And then in March, we   blogged  that Congress failed to act within the required 60 days allotted by the Congressional Review Act to disapprove it, which would seem to indicate Congress’ intent to let the waiver stand, thus putting this matter to bed. Nope. It’s time for another update: Since the last time we blogged, both the House of Representatives and the Senate have voted under the Congressional Review Act to   disapprove  the waiver.   Under the Congressional Review Act, disapproval of a rule by both houses of Congress renders that rule void unless the President vetoes the action (and Congress does not then override his veto). If you’re asking yourself right now, “Wait…why isn’t Congress’ disapproval barred by the 60-day limit that the Congressional Review Act sets for the Senate and House to disapprove regulations? Two things: As it turns out, in 2023 the General Accounting Office issued an   opinion  that a waiver granted under the Clean Air Act for California vehicle emission standards is not a rule subject to review under the Congressional Review Act.   The Biden Administration’s EPA accordingly did not submit the waiver to Congress for review in January 2025.  The new Congress and President Trump’s EPA have rejected the General Accounting Office’s opinion, maintaining that the waiver is indeed a rule and thus subject to Congressional review.   Just one wrinkle: Because the Trump Administration’s EPA appears to have submitted the waiver to Congress for review as a rule on Feb. 25, the latest Congressional disapprovals would still seem to be outside the 60-day limit set by the Congressional Review Act. Meanwhile, there are at least three bills pending in Congress to completely do away with the exception in the Clean Air Act for California’s vehicle emission standards. For now, it is probably safe to assume that the California vehicle emission standards are no longer valid and in effect.  “However, this mess will ultimately be decided in court,” GASP senior attorney John Baillie said.  GASP continued to follow this issue closely and will keep you updated on further developments as they occur.

Allegheny County, your voice matters. For months, you've turned out, you've spoken up, and you've made your concerns clear: We need better air quality, and we need to provide Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) with the resources it needs to deliver it. Putting ACHD's proposed permit fee increase on the agenda for a discussion and a decisive YES vote is now or never. To be clear: The increased fees aren’t about punishment; they are about proper funding. The proposed fee changes are not arbitrary or punitive. They are administrative adjustments, designed to cover the actual costs incurred by ACHD when providing essential professional services to companies seeking permits to do business here in Allegheny County. The Clean Air Act is crystal clear: Allegheny County Health Department must  have the resources and personnel to effectively manage these critical services and issue thorough, effective permits. That means charging fees that actually cover the cost of administering the program. It's a fundamental requirement for a healthy community. So why the hold-up? This proposal moved efficiently through all the proper channels—until it reached County Council. Despite repeated pleas, we still have no clear explanation for the opposition or delay. Please join us in demanding action from council. Call or send a message to your county council rep today and implore them to vote YES on the permit fee schedule changes. 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  and Jordan Botta  (newly appointed to replace outgoing councilman David Bonorati. We hope you can make it to the next Allegheny County Council meeting, which could happen as soon as June 3! Let's make sure our voices are heard loud and clear. Demand that the permit fee changes be put on the agenda for a discussion and a YES vote.