The Allegheny County Health Department says it’s been working hard to establish better rapport with environmental groups and others concerned about air pollution here. It should demonstrate that spirit of cooperation by rescheduling an upcoming hearing on the draft permit for Allegheny Ludlum’s Brackenridge plant.

The  department’s draft permit for the mill has been years in the making. Now, the public must weigh in before the department finalizes and signs off on it. The Dec. 19 hearing at the Harrison Township municipal building comes at the end of a 30-day public comment period. While residents may submit remarks in writing during the 30 days, some will want to appear in person at the hearing to give their views, hear what their neighbors have to say and read the faces of company and department officials.

PennEnvironment has assailed the department for scheduling the hearing smack in the middle of the holiday season, when some residents who wish to comment may have previous commitments or be too pressed for time to attend. (For the same reason, it also criticized the department for holding a hearing Monday on a draft permit for the McConway & Torley foundry in Lawrenceville.) Zachary Barber, the group’s Western Pennsylvania organizer, said the draft permits for the Lawrenceville and Brackenridge sites are among 10 the department put out for public comment at about the same time.

The department says it’s taken aback by the criticism because it has worked with environmental groups to establish dates for releasing permit drafts and scheduling public hearings. That was particularly true, it said, in the case of the Brackenridge plant, a major source of emissions. 

Critics allege that the draft permits are deficient in various ways — the proposed testing and monitoring standards have been characterized as lenient, for example — so inconvenient hearing dates only contribute to the perception of corporate favoritism. Even if the department has bent over backwards to be accommodating, it should take the high ground and reschedule the hearing on the  Allegheny Ludlum permit for January.

Jim Kelly, the department’s deputy director overseeing environmental health, said there’s a no-win quality to the agency’s work. It can be criticized for moving too slowly or too quickly on permits, and detractors may have unreasonable expectations about the department’s authority to control emissions. Among some segments of the community, getting the permits finalized and in place is of paramount concern, he said, adding that postponing hearings delays the department’s work on other projects. 

That may be true. In the case of the Allegheny Ludlum permit, however, the delay of a couple of weeks — to underscore the department’s commitment to community outreach and build public trust in its work — would be prudent after a permitting process that has stretched out for years.

First Published: December 5, 2017, 5:00 a.m.