Editor’s Note: An Allegheny County Health Department spokesman on Wednesday confirmed that the Lawrenceville PM2.5 monitor is back online following repair. We updated the headline of this story at 3:16 p.m. June 3 to reflect this new information. The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) on Monday confirmed that the Lawrenceville monitor site is undergoing maintenance and that spiking AQI values showing on its air quality dashboard are not accurate. An ACHD spokesman said the department is working to add a note of clarification to the dashboard to make users aware of the issue. By way of background: The Lawrenceville monitor has been producing erratic data intermittently for some time.  As far back as the Christmas 2019 bad air episode, ACHD has taken it offline or deleted blocks of data after initial quality assurance review. Both PM10 and PM2.5 monitors were entirely offline April 27 – May 11 for repairs. GASP is following the issue and will let you know when repairs are complete. #ACHD #airquality #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #PM25

The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) on Wednesday delivered public comments at the Allegheny County Board of Health meeting to share its support for a funding request for more than $350,000 in new air monitoring equipment—one that was subsequently approved. GASP also reiterated its request that the Allegheny County Health Department seek an EPA grant that would help officials better monitor air toxics such as benzene and manganese. Here are our full comments: Good afternoon, my name is Suzanne Seppi, Project Director at Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP). I am presenting these comments for Rachel Filippini, Executive Director of GASP as she is unable to be here today.GASP supports the County Air Program’s request to use Clean Air Funds for air monitoring equipment. It is critical that the County have the resources in place to quickly provide backup, replacement, and additional EPA approved monitors when the need arises like it did last year following the fire at the Clairton Coke Works. We were pleased to see in the proposal that some funding would go towards the purchase of lower-cost or portable monitors for short-term studies as well as additional equipment that could assist in visible emission enforcement.The collection of data is critical but while the department does publish in a timely manner the data for some pollutants for example PM2.5, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, it does not do so for benzene monitoring data.ACHD’s benzene monitoring method does not provide real-time results; laboratory analysis is required. But even when the analysis is complete, the Department does not publish benzene monitoring results on its website. This means members of the public who wish to review that information must formally request it through the County’s website. More troubling is that the time for benzene data delivery from the lab to ACHD often involves months of delay. Equally concerning is that benzene is not monitored every day at the Liberty Monitor. ACHD only samples for benzene from midnight to midnight every third day.ACHD may be able to improve this situation by applying for an EPA Air Toxics Monitoring Grant. The EPA is looking to fund projects that characterize the impacts of air toxics in a community and/or that assess the impacts of air toxics emissions from specific sources. We believe it would behoove the air program to take advantage of this funding opportunity, the deadline is quickly approaching. With this funding, ACHD could for instance engage in the robust and comprehensive kind of benzene monitoring that the PA DEP is doing around the now shuttered Erie Coke Corporation.2There could also be an opportunity for more comprehensive monitoring of manganese, a toxic heavy metal associated with steel-making. ACHD already monitors for manganese at McConway & Torley in Lawrenceville. Since U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works emitted approximately 200 times more manganese than McConway & Torley, it would make sense for the department to monitor around the E.T. facility as well.These are just two concrete examples of how the Health Department could take advantage of this tremendous grant opportunity to more robustly monitor air pollution locally. The pollutants we are talking about are a known carcinogen and neurotoxin. Having a better handle on the sources and processes creating them and then, in turn, working to reduce them is the kind of work the community expects from the Air Quality Program. Thank you. Seppi also noted that GASP looked forward to working with ACHD’s new director, Dr. Debora Bogen, who had been named as Dr. Karen Hacker’s successor earlier in the day. #airtoxicsmonitoring #benzene #AlleghenyCountyBoardofHealth #AlleghenyCountyHealthDeparmtne #DrDebraBogen #ACHD #manganese

The Allegheny County Health Department’s air quality monitor in Liberty AGAIN registered the worst air quality in the nation Monday morning. AirNow.gov reported that the area had an AQI in the red, meaning everyone in the area “may begin to experience health effects” and that “members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.” The Health Department’s air quality dashboard indicates that AQI in the Liberty-Clairton area reached the orange, unhealthy-for-sensitive-populations range at midnight. It entered the red range at 2 a.m. and peaked at 166 two hours later. It remained in the red at the time of publication. While ACHD regularly issues air dispersion reports, the last one published on the department’s website was dated Feb. 14, meaning it is unclear at present how long the poor air quality will last. Air pollution near Clairton Coke Works isn’t a weather-related anomaly—it’s a year-round issue impacting the day-to-day lives of local residents. The concentration of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) at the Liberty monitor exceeded the state’s 24-hour average air quality standard 46 times last year. It averaged 0.017 ppm from midnight through 8 a.m. Monday, which means it is mathematically impossible to have a 24-hr average below the 0.005 ppm standard again today. ACHD committed to revising the county’s coke oven regulations nearly two years ago, yet we are still waiting. “It’s well past time ACHD prioritize strengthening the county’s coke-oven regulations,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “How many more exceedances do there need to be before this is put on the front burner? Residents are suffering now, and need swift action from ACHD now because we all deserve clean air and it’s ultimately up to them to make that happen.” #cokeovenregulations #AQI #airpollution #LibertyClairton #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #ACHD #Clairton #airquality

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) in a press release Thursday announced plans to combat weather-related air pollution events that threaten the health and well-being of local residents. The announcement comes after GASP, residents, and fellow environmental groups last week demanded action from the department following a weather inversion and days of associated poor air quality that prompted state officials to issue Air Quality Action Days and ACHD to send warnings about possible pollution-related health impacts. Department officials said they know from research that inversions are expected to get worse with climate change. “We’re seeing that first-hand here. From 2008-2018, there were four similar weather-related events that occurred in Allegheny County. In 2019, severe weather inversions happened twice—one episode in February and the most recent one last month,” ACHD Interim Director Ron Sugar said in a statement. “Prior to December’s inversions, the county was on track for the second year in a row – and in our history – to be in compliance with federal air quality standards. That accomplishment is now at risk.” He added that “while the county may still attain the EPA standard in accordance with its recently submitted State Implementation Plan,” the health department recorded exceedances of the 24-hour PM2.5 federal National Ambient Air Quality Standard at the Liberty Monitor for six consecutive days Dec. 21 – 26. On this point, GASP notes that monitoring stations along the Parkway East, in Avalon, and in Lawrenceville did not record any exceedances of federal air quality standards over this period.  While ACHD’s press release correctly pointed out “higher pollution readings were also recorded at other monitored sites across the county,” data establish that the residents of the Mon Valley— yet again—faced the worst of the bad air. ACHD’s release went on to state: “While we will continue to advocate for residents to do what they can to reduce emissions, we must also explore new regulations that would impose corrective action requirements on industry during short-term pollution events. These extended exceedances and higher pollution levels are a clear threat to the health of the county’s residents, but ACHD’s current regulations do not provide options to address this issue.” GASP strongly supports ACHD enhancing regulations aimed at reducing adverse health impacts associated with short-term air pollution events. But it’s worth noting a framework for taking such actions is already on the books: ACHD regulations include an entire chapter addressing “Air Pollution Episodes.” The purpose of those regulations is to “provide (ACHD) with the authority to decrease the severity and duration of air pollution episodes by requiring staged reductions in the emission of air contaminant.” The problem? ACHD has failed to update most of these regulations since 1994. That means the criteria for defining an air pollution episode didn’t list an action level for pm2.5—the federal air quality standard for fine particulate matter wasn’t developed until 1997. ACHD will also take these steps to improve air quality as it relates to temperature inversions to further combat climate change: ACHD will propose a new air quality regulation in 2020 aimed at emission mitigation requirements for industry operating in the county during weather-related pollution episodes. The goal is to have emission reduction plans in place that could be implemented within 24 hours of notice from ACHD that a public health hazard exists. The department will “build an infrastructure to model and forecast inversion events as a necessary component for effective policy implementation.” Enhanced meteorological forecasting is a key element of this strategy, ACHD noted, adding that the expectation is that there will also be additional public notifications that will be possible. ACHD officials will “continue to engage elected officials at the local, state and federal level to ensure comprehensive and workable solutions are advanced for improving air quality in the region.” Sugar said that through these partnerships, ACHD will continue to recommend and assist in the development of policy solutions to provide additional tools to the department. He cited House Bill 1752, sponsored by Rep. Austin Davis, as one example. Additionally, a companion bill has also been introduced by Sen. Katie Muth in the state Senate. That legislation would increase fines for facilities found to exceed established pollution thresholds and require industry to notify affected communities of potential health impacts when unforeseen accidents compromise facilities’ pollution controls. GASP believes ACHD’s plan is a positive first step. “It appears ACHD is getting the message that County residents are fed up with our poor air quality and refuse to accept weather conditions as the only mediating factor,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “The steps that ACHD proposes are welcome news and we look forward to working with ACHD to formulate an approach to stemming industrial emissions when weather is forecast to be poor. We hope the department will be equally eager to adopt stricter coke-oven regulations—a move that would help reduce industrial emissions every day.” She added: “The fact remains that inversions are common occurrences in our region and there could very well be many more between now and when these regulations take effect. We hope ACHD does everything that it can to expedite this process.” Editor’s Note—Here are associated media clips: County Seeks New Air Quality Regulations to Combat Unhealthy Smog, by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Don Hopey After String of Smoggy Days, County Wants Polluters to Reduce Some Emissions During Some Weather Events, by WESA’s Kathleen Davis #PM25 #airpollution #LibertyMonitor #RachelFilippini #emissions #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #ACHD #EPA #airquality

All of us here at GASP wanted to send a huge THANK YOU to our friends at 3 Rivers Outdoors Co. for a fun and festive fundraiser Friday! GASP staff was on hand at the store from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 20 to wrap gifts for donations—all while telling shoppers a little about air quality and what we do to help improve it locally. Did we mention there was beer available by donation and that all those proceeds went to GASP, too? Shoppers were also offered a chance to grab last-minute gifts for the outdoor enthusiasts on their holiday lists (with 10 percent of all sales made that evening going toward GASP, too). Pictured is GASP’s project manager Sue Seppi, who was all smiles at Friday’s event. Thanks again, 3ROC! #airquality #SueSeppi #ThreeRiversOutdoorCo

Dear Fellow Breather, We’re nearing the end of a banner year here at the Group Against Smog and Pollution. We celebrated our golden anniversary and, while we don’t generally boast, we have to admit GASP makes 50 look good. There was no midlife crisis here. We spent our 50th doing what we’ve always done best: Advocating for policy changes that help improve air quality, educating folks (young and old) about the impacts of air pollution, and acting as a legal watchdog to both industrial polluters and the governmental agencies charged with regulating them. Helping to initiate real policy changes at the local and regional levels takes sustained tenacity. This year, GASP was dogged in its pursuit of improved air quality – with a special focus on the issues being faced by residents in the Mon Valley living in the shadow of U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works. In the wake of a 2018 Christmas Eve fire at Clairton Coke Works that knocked out crucial pollution control devices, GASP staffers organized – and attended – rallies calling on U.S. Steel to stem industrial emissions emanating from the plant to be a better, greener neighbor. GASP’s executive director was also invited to testify earlier this year at the Joint PA Senate and House Democratic Policy Committee Hearing on US Steel Clairton Coke Works explosion, air quality, and community notification issues. We then took our fight for cleaner air for the Mon Valley to Pittsburgh City Council and Allegheny County Council, working with our allies to send a unified message to the steel-making giant: Clean up your act so residents of the Mon Valley can breathe easier. GASP has also taken the lead on efforts to reduce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions (you know it when you smell it – it’s a pervasive rotten egg odor) in Allegheny County. We held a press conference earlier this fall urging the health department to revise the County’s coke oven emission regulations in order to reduce violations of the H2S standard and foul odors associated with it. it. But we weren’t alone in making those demands: We also presented a petition with nearly 650 signatures from people fed up with the stench. Our advocacy work extends beyond the Mon Valley. This year, our legal watchdog efforts included reviewing and commenting on region-wide air pollution-related policies and permits to ensure that all the applicable rules and safeguards were, in fact, being applied. We’ve been on the front lines of the fight to ensure that Allegheny County Title V permit and Clean Air Fund money is properly utilized. GASP partnered with Clean Air Council to stop Allegheny County from using millions of dollars from those funding streams to help subsidize capital improvement projects in the county such as the renovation of the health department’s offices. Stay tuned, because that lawsuit is still pending. We’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you a little about our education programming, too. We conducted numerous air quality-related presentations for myriad groups this year, and GASP again hosted an air quality-centric summer camp. GASP’s education staff has been hard at work on a new initiative: Air Quality Education kits. Through grant funding from the Allegheny County Clean Air Fund, GASP has compiled three air quality education kits complete with games and other activities designed to help children in grades 4-6 better understand air pollution and its impacts. We’ll keep you posted as we get these free kits into the hands of local educators. Thanks to generous donations and grant funding, we were able to go outside our usual advocacy footprint this year, helping the community group Hold Erie Coke Accountable (HECA) do just that: Keep Erie Coke Corp. accountable for its track record of environmental non-compliance. In hindsight, we can say the timing of this funding was serendipitous. It allowed GASP to provide technical and educational assistance to HECA. A few months later, the state Department of Environmental Protection took unprecedented action to have the plant shut down because of numerous violations of the Clean Air Act. We look forward to continuing our partnership with our friends at HECA in 2020. All this said, we don’t want you to get the impression that 2019 was all work and no play, as that would make for a dull GASP! This past October GASP held our 50th Anniversary gala at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Oakland. Truly, it was a magical night complete with fellowship and nostalgia – one that celebrated our past and looked forward to our future. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto delivered touching remarks about GASP’s lasting impact and we enjoyed spending time with several other elected officials and GASP founding members. You can see the program portion of the event on our YouTube channel. As we head into this new decade, we are ready to renew our fight for cleaner air – but it’s a battle we won’t be able to win without you. Concerned citizens founded our organization in 1969 and all these years later, we still count on citizen support to sustain our efforts to advocate, educate and, when necessary, litigate. If you can find it in your heart and pocketbook to donate, it will help GASP do even more as a leader on the front lines of the fight for better air. Donations to GASP can be mailed in or made on our website. As a special thank you, those who donate $75 or more will receive a special 50th-anniversary gift from us. Thank you! Sincerely, Jonathan Nadle, Board President Rachel Filippini, Executive Director All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law. The official registration and financial information of Group Against Smog & Pollution, Inc. may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling, toll-free, (800) 732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. #JonathanNadle #H2S #ErieCokeCorp #airpollution #TitleV #USSteel #HECA #GASP #RachelFilippini #emissions #DEP #CleanAirFund #airquality

Dear Fellow Breathers, The holidays will be here before you know it, so let GASP do the gift-wrapping for you! Our friends at 3 Rivers Outdoor Co. are sponsoring a fundraising event to help raise money for our air quality advocacy, education, and legal watchdog work: GASP staff will be on hand at the store from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 20 to wrap gifts for donations—all while telling you a little about air quality and what we do to help improve it locally. BONUS: Did we mention there will be beer available for a donation (and that all those proceeds go to GASP, too)? And if you’ll need to get a last-minute gift for the outdoor enthusiast on your holiday list, 10 percent of all sales made the evening of Dec. 20 will go toward GASP, too. We hope to see you there! Warmest Regards, The GASP Team #3RiversOutdoorCo #airquality #fundraiser

Our air quality education kit was a hit with the kids at the Volunteers of America after-school program in Sharpsburg last month. Our education guru Chelsea is often—and affectionately—referred to as The Pig Lung Lady. For those who may be unfamiliar: She uses the pig lungs to help teach students about how the respiratory system works. The kit is one of three GASP is making available for FREE to schools in Allegheny County. The kits, made possible through an Allegheny County Clean Air Fund grant, can be used in the classroom, or at after-school programs or even in a summer camp setting. They include fun, hands-on activities that help students in grades 4-8 understand air quality and health, environmental science and citizen monitoring, as well as air quality, energy and technology. Sound like something you’d like your son or daughter to experience? Then let their teacher know they can borrow one, two, or all three kits completely free of charge. In addition to the instructional materials included with the kits, GASP’s education and events coordinator will conduct an Air Quality 101 presentation to each classroom borrowing the materials. Want more info? No problem! You can read more here or email us at chelsea@gasp-pgh.org. #VolunteersofAmerica #citizenmonitoring #piglungs #AirQualityEducationKits #ChelseaHilty #AlleghenyCountyCleanAirFund #airquality

Dear Fellow Breathers, Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is in the rearview mirror, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over, it’s time to turn our attention to one of GASP’s favorite days of the year: #GivingTuesday. For those who’ve never heard of it, #GivingTuesday is a literal game-changer for small nonprofits like ours because it’s a day where people across the globe—folks just like you—take time out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life to make a difference in their local communities. How? Through making a charitable donation to groups like GASP, which exist entirely to help improve the lives of people right here in the Pittsburgh area through advocacy, education, and watchdog efforts aimed at decreasing air pollution pervading local air. We understand that there are so many worthy nonprofits seeking your support—both financial and otherwise—on this #GivingTuesday Dec. 3, and we hope we can count on you to take the opportunity to renew your annual membership or otherwise support our efforts to fight air pollution through a donation of any size. As a THANK YOU, we will send a sweet piece of GASP swag to all those who renew their memberships or donate this #GivingTuesday. We could go on and on about how much we appreciate your support, but suffice it to say: Our ability to be on the front lines of the fight for better air quality in western Pennsylvania is largely influenced by financial donations from our friends, allies, and members. This #GivingTuesday you can donate through our Pittsburgh Gives page. You can also donate or renew your membership via our website. In the meantime, you can learn more about GASP’s past work and accomplishments, as well as our educational programming and legal watchdog efforts there, too. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at amanda@gasp-pgh.org if you have questions or concerns. Warmest Regards, Your Friends at GASP #airpollution #airquality #GivingTuesday

Editor’s Note: The below is from a press release issued Tuesday by the Center for Biological diversity. That release can be viewed in its entirety here. The related consent decree can be viewed here. A federal district court in California on Tuesday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop delaying plans for cleaning up asthma-causing sulfur dioxide pollution in portions of eight states where millions of people live—including Pennsylvania. The court order covers Pittsburgh, as well as areas in Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin. It settles a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and Center for Environmental Health challenging the EPA’s failure to enforce Clean Air Act standards for sulfur dioxide. The consent decree revolves around the required State Implementation Plan (SIP). GASP made formal comments on the proposed SIP for Allegheny County, which can be viewed here. The pollutant, which comes mainly from burning fossil fuels, contributes to lung diseases. It is particularly threatening to children and the elderly. “This court order is an important step forward in the battle to protect children and others with asthma from dangerous sulfur dioxide pollution,” said Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “President Trump’s absurd promise to bring back coal has failed miserably as the country shifts to cleaner energy sources. But this administration’s sickening addiction to fossil fuels is still forcing millions of Americans to breathe unhealthy air.” Along with Pittsburgh, the areas where the EPA has failed to make sure proper air pollution plans are in place include: portions of Indiana’s Daviess and Pike counties; Pennsylvania’s Indiana County; Muscatine, Iowa; Marshall, W. Va.; the Muskingum River in Ohio; Rhinelander, Wis.; and Hayden, Ariz. The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to identify and set national ambient air-quality standards and make sure plans are in place to protect human health, forests, streams, wildlife and crops from pollutants like sulfur oxides, which are produced mainly from the burning of fossil fuels. Measured as sulfur dioxide, sulfur pollution causes a range of public-health and environmental problems. The EPA’s own updated scientific studies show a link between sulfur oxides and asthma. Sulfur oxides also contribute to acid rain and haze, damaging lakes, streams and ecosystems throughout the United States and decreasing visibility in national parks. #CenterforBiologicalDiversity #RobertUkeiley #SO2SIP #airpollution #sulfurdioxide #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency #EPA #airquality