The Allegheny County Health Department and the EPA put a Braddock steel mill on notice over several violations, including excessive emissions, on Tuesday.
The set of violations issued is unique because it's being done jointly by those agencies. Now the question becomes what kind of penalties the U.S. Steel plant will face.
The sight of stacks bellowing smoke into the air from the Edgar Thomson plant is familiar for the longtime steel town. But regulators now say it's a sign of excessive pollution that could impact residents.
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“We hadn't seen this type of additional pollution at this facility in the past,” said Jim Kelly, deputy director of environmental health for the county health department.
Kelly told Channel 11 the agencies found multiple violations of county and federal regulations, including visible emissions, failure to maintain equipment and failure to comply with the plant's operating permit.
“We have inspectors who are trained that can look at a stack and they can determine what level the smoke is and where that is relative to what the standards should be,” Kelly said.
“It was pretty clear. The standard is 20 percent and we were seeing 60 or even 100 percent at times.”
Channel 11 reached out to U.S. Steel to get their side of the story. In a statement, the company said simply, “U. S. Steel has received the notice of violation. We are currently reviewing it and will work with the ACHD and EPA to resolve any issues.”
U.S. Steel will have two weeks to review the notice of violations with the EPA.
As for the health department, they hope to continue partnering with the EPA, in part to give them more leverage when it comes to enforcing regulations.