In response to a federal lawsuit, U.S. Steel Corp. has acknowledged its three Mon Valley Works facilities emitted more pollutants in the weeks following a massive Dec. 24, 2018, fire at the Clairton coke works, but contends there’s no proof those emissions damaged the health of nearby residents.
According to the 46-page response filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, the company “denies that individuals who live or rent property near its Clairton, Edgar Thomson and Irvin plants were adversely affected by alleged illegal pollutant emissions from the plants.”
The federal lawsuit filed in April by PennEnvironment and the Clean Air Council charges that the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker jeopardized the health of Mon Valley residents by continuing to operate its three Mon Valley Works plants for 100 days after the fire that destroyed desulfurization equipment.
The coke works in Clairton where the Christmas Eve fire occurred, and Irvin steel mills in Braddock and West Mifflin, are connected by a pipeline system that carries coke oven gases used to fuel various coking and steelmaking processes. After the fire, while repairs were underway, the company substituted cleaner burning natural gas for a portion of the fuel it needed, but also flared coke oven gas at Irvin.
The lawsuit, brought under the citizen suit provision of the federal Clean Air Act, seeks to have the court order upgrades to the facilities to ensure the air pollution violations don’t happen again and also seeks significant penalties, said Joshua Kratka, an attorney with the National Environmental Law Center, a Boston-based nonprofit environmental litigation firm representing the two environmental organizations.
“They (U.S. Steel) have admitted, or come close to admitting, all of the violations we allege in the lawsuit actually did occur,” Mr. Kratka said. “They’ve denied those emissions caused health problems, but community members believe and know they were affected and we intend to bring them to court to testify to that.”
Mr. Kratka said U.S. Steel’s own air monitoring records will show it violated its air pollution control permits and the federal Clean Air Act.
“I think U.S. Steel faces a very large exposure in this case,” he said. “Its liability is open and shut. The question is what is the remedy and what amount of penalties will it pay.”
He said the court has directed the parties to prepare a schedule to conduct discovery, and scheduled an Aug. 22 status conference to set a trial date and discuss mediation. Asked if a settlement has been discussed, he said the two sides have spoken, “but I can’t talk about what we talked about.”
Meghan Cox, a company spokeswoman, confirmed it had filed the response, but declined to comment further about the lawsuit.
She did issue a statement saying “environmental stewardship and safety remain core values at U.S. Steel, where we spend approximately $100 million annually on environmental compliance” at the Mon Valley plants located about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. The three plants employ about 3,000.
Ms. Cox’s statement noted the company announced a $1 billion investment at the beginning of May in new steelmaking technology and a cogeneration power plant that will “improve environmental performance and energy conservation through the Mon Valley Works.”
Coke oven gas is composed of hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds. Sulfur dioxide is one of six primary or "criteria" pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act, and at high concentrations can affect breathing and aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, including asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.
The company admits on page 8 of its response that the Clairton facility emits into the air hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter or soot, benzene, toluene and xylene, “pursuant to applicable permits” that authorize those emissions.
On page 14 in the response it denies that exposure to airborne particulate matter, a federal “criteria pollutant” listed in the Clean Air Act, “at any amount necessarily causes, contributes, or is linked” to health effects alleged in the lawsuit. On the same page, the response denies that volatile organic compounds or VOCs, “in any amount necessarily have short and long term adverse health effects,” or the health effects alleged in the lawsuit. Also on that page, “U.S.Steel denies that benzene exposure at any amount necessarily causes, contributes to or is linked to cancer or neurological harm.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies benzene as a “Group A, known human carcinogen.”
Coke is used to produce iron and steel. Clairton's ten coke batteries contain 708 coke ovens and more than 6,300 potential coke gas emission points. Each year, the facility produces about 4.3 million tons of coke. According to the Allegheny County Health Department, there were a total of 10 hourly exceedances of the federal standard for sulfur dioxide emissions in the 14 weeks after the fire, eight recorded by the county monitor in Liberty and two at the North Braddock monitor.
Ryan Scarpino, a spokesman for the health department, which was granted permission to intervene in the case on the side of the environmental organizations, declined to comment, citing county policy precluding comment on legal matters.
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1983, or on Twitter @donhopey
First Published: July 19, 2019, 11:23 p.m.
