County to send alerts for poor air quality
Starting Monday, the Allegheny County Health Department will start providing public alerts for Mon Valley residents when forecasts call for poor air quality.
The notices, part of regulations already being developed by the Health Department, come after the county issued an air pollution watch for the Mon Valley during the past week, when levels of fine particles increased Tuesday evening and stayed high on Wednesday.
“While we are moving closer to having regulations in place that will require industries to take responsible action during poor air quality days, there have been too many incidents in the past few months to wait any longer,” Dr. Debra Bogen, ACHD director, said in a statement released Friday.
“With the urging and support of the county executive, the department will follow the spirit of the regulations, providing public notice of the potential for poor air quality, or the exceedance of the PM2.5 threshold at the Liberty monitor. We are hopeful that the sources in the Mon Valley will join us in this proactive step, acting responsibly to benefit the community in which they are located.”
The Liberty monitor measures pollution from U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works and other sources.
Under ACHD regulations being developed, the department would monitor weather forecasts from the state Department of Environmental Protection. When atmospheric conditions are projected to exceed a threshold level, companies emitting pollutants would be required to reduce emissions.
The regulations would apply to businesses or others contributing to the air quality in these
Mon Valley communities: Braddock, Braddock Hills, Chalfant, Clairton, Dravosburg, Duquesne, East McKeesport, East Pittsburgh, Elizabeth Borough, Elizabeth Township, Forest Hills, Forward, Glassport, Jefferson Hills, Liberty, Lincoln, McKeesport, Munhall, North Braddock, North Versailles, Port Vue, Rankin, Swissvale, Turtle Creek, Versailles, Wall, West Elizabeth, West Mifflin, White Oak, Wilkins, Wilmerding and Whitaker.
The alerts will be sent out using Allegheny Alerts, which requires a free subscription. The Health Department said users can select to receive notifications by email, text, phone or an app. To receive Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode alerts, users should select the “Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode” notification under Allegheny County Health Department alerts. Users can visit https:// alleghenycounty. us/ alerts to sign up.
The Health Department said earlier in the week that the elevated levels of particulates taken at the Liberty monitor were “unusual and unexpected” considering atmospheric conditions.
The department said it contacted U. S. Steel, one of the main polluters in the Mon Valley, about the high levels of particulates. On Wednesday morning, the department said the company indicated it had taken three of its oldest batteries offline in the previous 12 hours.
The Group Against Smog and Pollution issued a statement after the county’s announcement.
“GASP and fellow environmental groups have long called on the health department to do more robust communication around air quality,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “GASP thanks ACHD for its efforts to better inform the community about this important public health issue. But we know bad air travels and hope the department will consider providing a heads up for the entire county because air pollution drifts beyond the borders of the Mon Valley.”
The Breathe Project, a collaborative effort among clean air advocates, health professionals and private citizens that monitors air quality, said the region has had poor air for at least nine days since spring started.
“Residents in [ southwestern Pennsylvania] shouldn’t have to endure nine days of having the worst air quality in the country,” Executive Director Matt Mehalik said in a statement on Thursday.