Sunday, February 23, 2025, 7:38PM |  40°
MENU
Advertisement
Surrounded by steelworkers, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman talks to the media after touring the Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Clairton. Fetterman took the tour to get a progress report following a Dec. 24, 2018 fire. The fire tore through the Clairton plant's coke gas processing system and caused extensive damage.
4
MORE

Lt. Gov. Fetterman: Clairton Coke Works 'needs to be rebuilt' to high standards

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette

Lt. Gov. Fetterman: Clairton Coke Works 'needs to be rebuilt' to high standards

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, fresh from a Friday morning tour of the fire-damaged pollution control system at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, cheered the ongoing fixes at a facility he said is central to the Mon Valley economy.

Mr. Fetterman, who was Braddock’s mayor for 13 years and still lives with his family in that Mon Valley community near the steelmaker’s Edgar Thomson plant, said he saw “catastrophic damage” in the football field-sized building where the massive fire broke out and burned for five hours on the morning of Dec. 24.

“This is a facility that sustained an enormous amount of damage from what was a gigantic fire,” Mr. Fetterman said at a rain-sprinkled news conference in the parking lot of the coke works’ State Street gate after his private tour. “It needs to be rebuilt to the highest environmental standards and that’s the commitment.”

Advertisement

Environmental organizations and some Clairton residents have been critical of the high emissions from the plant since the fire, including nine exceedances of the federal Clean Air Act standards for sulfur dioxide. They’ve called on the Allegheny County Health Department to order the steelmaker to idle the coke batteries until repairs to the gas system are finished, and Thursday the Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment filed the required 60-day notice of intent to sue the company over the high pollution levels.

U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works can be seen in this aerial photo, Jan. 17, 2019.
Don Hopey
Health department orders U.S. Steel to stop pollution at Mon Valley plants

The health department issued a health advisory Jan. 9 for 22 Mon Valley communities, urging residents with respiratory and heart conditions, the elderly and children to limit outdoor activity. It remains in effect.

Mr. Fetterman said the sulfur dioxide exceedances were a rare occurrence that the company is working hard to eliminate.

“It’s just [a few] hourly exceedances out of 1,300 hours since the fire,” he said. “This plant is operating under new, stringent emissions guidelines. The environment is a priority, as is the welfare of its workers. It’s done the best anyone could expect.”

Advertisement

Mr. Fetterman said the continued operation of the plant was “critical to the communities.”

U.S. Steel has said that putting the coking facility on “hot idle” is a multi-month process that would take longer to accomplish than the ongoing repairs to the coke gas desulfurization system.

Mike Rhodes, Clairton plant manager, said the repairs have been going well, and the company is on track to begin a partial restart of the equipment by mid-May.

Ed Ley, a steamfitter for 43 years and a contract manager at the coke works who is working on the repair project, said the repair and replacement work is progressing smoothly.

The Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Clairton.
Don Hopey
U.S. Steel appeals county order to reduce Mon Valley air pollution

“It’s starting to come together,” Mr. Ley said while he and about 30 plant workers waited for Mr. Fetterman to speak. “Everyone here is fully committed to the mission. Now it depends on the vendors.”

Mr. Rhodes said that while the repairs are underway, the company is flaring 60 to 65 percent of the coke oven gas normally used to heat operations at Clairton, Edgar Thomson and Irvin, three plants collectively known as the U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works.

He also said that coke baking times have been extended to reduce the amount of gas produced. As a result, he said, the facility is producing 17 or 18 percent less coke.

Clairton is the largest coking facility in the U.S., producing about 4.3 million tons a year in its 10 coke batteries and 708 coke ovens. Coke is an essential ingredient in the iron and steel making process.

Located along a bend of the Monongahela River about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, the coke plant has a long history of air pollution problems and has paid more than $4 million in penalties under terms of six enforcement actions.

Additionally, the company is appealing two fines totaling more than $1.6 million levied by the health department last year. One of those enforcement actions would, for the first time, require the company to idle two coke oven batteries if its efforts to reduce fugitive emissions are unsuccessful.

Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1983, or on Twitter @donhopey.

Correction (posted at 12:20 p.m., Feb. 17): In a quote by Mr. Fetterman about sulfur dioxide exceedances, he said 1,300 hours had passed since the fire. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that number.

First Published: February 15, 2019, 5:54 p.m.
Updated: February 15, 2019, 11:28 p.m.

RELATED
Houses nearby U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works can be seen in this aerial photo taken on Thursday, January 17, 2019, in Clairton.
Don Hopey
Air pollution frustration spills out at health board meeting
Mike Trumpe of Carroll Township crosses Maple Avenue on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, near U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works.
Don Hopey
Environmental groups sue U.S. Steel over Mon Valley pollution
U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works can be seen in this aerial photo taken on January 17 in Clairton.
Don Hopey
Environmental groups plan to sue U.S. Steel over air pollution
A veil of haze settles on downtown Butler as the result of a winter temperature inversion in this Feb. 6, 2005 file photo.
Christopher Huffaker
'Inversions' also cause of air quality issues in Pittsburgh area
U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works can be seen in this aerial photo taken on Thursday, January 17, 2019, in Clairton.
Christopher Huffaker
County Council: What will you do about Clairton pollution? Health Dept: Enforcement coming.
Streams of steam and heat hang over the Northside with temperatures in the low 30s before sunrise, Monday Feb. 4, 2019 in Pittsburgh.
Don Hopey
State declares Air Quality Action Day as particulate levels rise
An early morning Sun rises through the exhaust from U.S.Steel's Clairton Coke Works, Wednesday Oct. 24, 2018 in Clarion , Pa.
Daniel Moore
U.S. Steel reports repairs following Clairton plant fire will cost about $40 million
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
The University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning
1
business
Amid funding uncertainty, Pitt pauses doctoral admissions
Prospect Rutger McGroarty is right on track according to Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza.
2
sports
From The Point: When are the kids getting called up? Jason Spezza details the Penguins’ ‘thought-out’ plan
A new report advises retirees in 2025 to aim for just 3.7% when withdrawing from savings -- down from 4%. Over a 30-year retirement, that could mean the difference between financial security or outliving your cash in your 80s or 90s, financial experts say.
3
business
How much can retirees safely withdraw from their nest eggs? Financial experts weigh in.
Pickers at Bonnie Brae Fruit Farms in Huntington Township, Adams County, harvest golden delicious apples on Sept. 10, 2024. President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen funding on several federal programs, including many that are under USDA and help farmers make their facilities more climate-friendly, protect against damage from wildlife, and help them employ more workers.
4
news
Pa. farmers feel funding pinch as federal freezes trigger labor and infrastructure instability
York County District Attorney Timothy J. Barker reacts during a news conference regarding the shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
5
news
Police officer killed, gunman dead in shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York
Surrounded by steelworkers, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman talks to the media after touring the Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Clairton. Fetterman took the tour to get a progress report following a Dec. 24, 2018 fire. The fire tore through the Clairton plant's coke gas processing system and caused extensive damage.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Steelworkers listen as Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman talks to the media after touring the Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Clairton.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant manager Michael Rhoads talks to the media after touring the plant with Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Clairton.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
A podium in front of the Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant before Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman talks to the media on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, in Clairton.  (Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST local
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story