Federal Judge Approves Proposed Consent Agreement Between PennEnvironment, Clean Air Council, and U.S. Steel For Air Pollution Violations At Clairton Coke [Coal] Works, 2 Other Facilities

On March 26, federal Judge Hardy signed the proposed consent agreement between Clean Air Council, PennEnvironment, and U.S. Steel. 

This is the final step in finalizing this historic consent decree and citizen suit penalty against U.S. Steel.

Clean Air Council Executive Director Alex Bomstein issued the following statement--

“Today marks a historic step forward in protecting Mon Valley residents from harmful pollution. It is a huge win that Judge Hardy has approved this settlement without changes and that it now has the power of the court behind it. This landmark agreement will go a long way in funding much-needed public health projects and holding U.S. Steel accountable for their operations."

The $42 million agreement will resolve a case alleging thousands of violations of air pollution standards that stemmed from a catastrophic 2018 fire and subsequent pollution control system breakdowns at the company’s three Mon Valley Works facilities: the Clairton Coke Works and the Edgar Thomson and Irvin steel mills.

The agreement mandates that U.S. Steel will pay a $5 million penalty — by far the largest in a Clean Air Act citizen enforcement suit in Pennsylvania history, and one of the three largest ever nationally. 

Most of the penalty money-- $4.5 million-- will fund public health projects directly benefiting Mon Valley communities suffering from poor air quality near the three U.S. Steel plants. 

The terms of the proposed settlement agreement also require:

-- $37 million worth of improvements. U.S. Steel spent $17.5 million to replace deteriorating equipment and dramatically upgrade preventive maintenance programs after this suit was filed, and must now complete two additional capital projects, costing approximately $19.5 million, to prevent pollution control outages.

-- U.S. Steel must pay automatic penalties for any future pollution control system outages, no matter the cause. These penalties increase with the seriousness and duration of an outage, to as much as $112,500 per day.

-- U.S. Steel must accept more stringent permit limits on the allowable amount of hydrogen sulfide in the treated coke oven gas it uses as fuel.

-- U.S. Steel must permanently shut down coke oven Battery 15, which consists of 60 highly polluting ovens – more than 10% of the remaining coke ovens at Clairton Works.

Click Here for more details of the agreement.

NewsClip:

-- TribLive: Feds Approve US Steel Agreement With Allegheny County, Environmentalists Over 2018 Plant Fire

Related Article:

-- PennEnvironment, Clean Air Council Win Record $42 Million Air Pollution Settlement Covering 3 US Steel Facilities In The Mon Valley, Pittsburgh  [PaEN]

[Posted: March 26, 2024]  PA Environment Digest