U.S. Steel appeals order to curb emissions at mills

Company says it needs more time to comply

U.S. Steel Corp. has appealed the Allegheny County Health Department’s order to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions at its three Mon Valley Works facilities, saying the order’s tight deadlines would endanger workers and nearby communities.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker announced its appeal Friday afternoon, barely 24 hours after the health department, citing higher than allowable air pollution emissions since a Dec. 24 fire disabled equipment at the coke works in Clairton, ordered the company to cut air pollution there and and also at its Edgar Thomson and Irvin Works steel mills.

The health department order gave the steelmaker five days to submit a plan, but the company, in its appeal, said the order also set deadlines for extending its coke-making process that are unsafe.

“We have begun making preparations to implement certain ordered actions to further extend coking times,” the company said. “However, we cannot extend those times on the schedule set forth in the order without jeopardizing the safety of workers and the community, and also negatively affecting the

Clairton plant’s environmental compliance.”

The health department said Thursday that extending the baking times for making coke from coal from 22 hours to 30 or 36 hours was one of several options for reducing emissions.

Meghan Cox, a U.S. Steel spokeswoman, said such operational adjustments take time.

“Our safety concerns stem from the fact that longer coking times [over 26 hours] create a potentially dangerous situation on the coke battery,” Ms. Cox said. “When times are extended, gas flow from the battery must be carefully managed to ensure an explosive atmosphere does not occur in the piping that collects coke oven gases.”

The company said it is “disappointed” the health department issued the order instead of working to resolve the environmental issues in a cooperative manner.

“As a result, we are forced to raise our concerns by appealing this order that places workers’ safety at risk and would worsen environmental performance,” the company release said. “While this appeal was necessary, we welcome an opportunity to meet with the ACHD to resolve these issues and deadlines without protracted litigation.”

Ryan Scarpino, a health department spokesman, said it is the department’s policy not to comment on litigation.

U.S. Steel also has appealed two health department enforcement orders, issued in June and October, for alleged air pollution violations that carry fines of $1 million and $620,000.

The Breathe Project, a coalition of 24 local environmental organizations, brushed aside the company’s latest appeal, saying it fits the company’s pattern of failing to take legally required action to address public health issues.

“These plants have been documented with illegally releasing the equivalent weight of 3 school buses of sulfur pollution each day for over 2 months due to failure at the Clairton Coke Works,” Matt Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, said in an emailed statement.

“U.S. Steel must make the investments necessary to save their workforce and plant and follow the requirements of ACHD under the Clean Air Act,” he said. “They can afford to fix this problem and need to do so immediately rather than avoiding regulatory requirements at the expense of the community.”

The company said in its appeal announcement it is committed to fixing the fire damage and repairing the pollution control system within the next eight to nine weeks. It said the restart of the desulfurization system will return the plant to compliance with federal Clean Air Act rules limiting sulfur dioxide emissions.

U.S. Steel had previously said the repairs would be 70 percent completed by midMay, so the new timeframe projects full restoration of the desulfurization system sooner and shaves a week off the earlier schedule.

Coke is used to produce iron and steel. Clairton’s 10 coke batteries contain 708 coke ovens that produce about 4.3 million tons annually.