US Steel agrees to $42M in improvements and fines over air pollution violations after 2018 fire

HARRISBURG (AP) — US Steel reached a $24.5 million settlement Monday in a 2019 federal lawsuit filed by environmental groups PennEnvironment and the Clean Air Council, as well as the Allegheny County Health Department.

“We hope that this sends a powerful message to polluters here in the region that it does not pay to pollute, and Pittsburghers won’t sit idly by while polluters run roughshod over our cornerstone environmental laws,” said Zachary Barber, with PennEnvironment.

According to Barber, the lawsuit was filed after a December 2018 fire at US Steel’s Clairton Coke Works plant damaged the facility’s pollution control technology and the company continued to operate the plant for more than 100 days.

“There were dramatically higher levels of unhealthy air pollution coming from all three facilities, in some cases up to 25 times higher than the usual amount,” Barber said.

Since then, US Steel has spent $17.5 million on repairs to the facility.

The settlement requires the company to spend another $19.5 million in upgrades to coke oven gas cleaning facilities.

It also includes an additional $5 million penalty to help fund local clean air efforts.

“It sets a record-breaking penalty for illegal air pollution from a clear air act lawsuit in Pennsylvania. US Steel will have to pay $5 million, and most of that money will go to funding local clean air and public health work in the Mon Valley,” Barber explained.

In response to the settlement, US Steel’s Mon Valley Works Vice President Kurt Barshick released a statement reading, in part, “At U. S. Steel, there are more than 3,000 hardworking men and women in the Mon Valley who strive every day to make essential steel in a way that complies with all environmental regulations. When we miss that mark, we will make changes so we can do better.”

A federal judge is expected to sign off and finalize the settlement in the next 45 days.

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