U.S. Steel settles lawsuit over 2018 fire, power outages in 2019, 2022

U.S. Steel officials have entered into a consent decree with the Allegheny County Health Department and two environmental groups to address a 2018 fire at its Clairton facility that crippled the plant’s pollution controls and caused power outages at the plant in 2019 and 2022.

The agreement will include nearly $20 million of investment in upgrades to coke-oven gas cleaning infrastructure, $4.5 million in contributions to support local communities affected by the incidents, and the permanent idling of one of the Mon Valley Works “batteries,” which is a group of coke ovens connected by common walls.

The gas-fueled 2018 fire burned for about two hours and tore through the plant’s No. 2 Control Room, damaging critical equipment used to clean coke oven gas and shutting down pollution-control systems.

County health officials subsequently began to warn residents about high levels of sulfur dioxide, and a 2021 Pitt study said the fire sickened nearby residents.

The settlement resolves a 2019 citizen lawsuit brought by Mon Valley residents affected by more than 100 consecutive days of illegal emissions of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide by the company, said Zach Barber, a clean air advocate with PennEnvironment.

“We all deserve clean air, and when polluters violate clean air standards, they must be held accountable,” Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said.

Related:

• Environmental groups claim victory in EPA ruling on U.S. Steel plant in Clairton

• U.S. Steel hit with $458K fine for air pollution violations

• Pitt study confirms Clairton Coke Works fire sickened residents

As part of the settlement, the Jefferson Regional Foundation will receive $2.25 million and the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development will receive $2.25 million to be used to fund public health projects directly benefiting Mon Valley communities experiencing poor air quality near the three U.S. Steel plants, county officials said.

U.S. Steel also agreed to a lower hydrogen sulfide limit in coke-oven gas and other environmentally beneficial changes to facilities at the Clairton Plant.

The company will pay $500,000 to the Allegheny County Clean Air Fund.

Company officials said the permanent idling of the Mon Valley Works Battery No. 15 will take place without any job reductions and could lead to additional emissions reductions.

Representatives from the Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment, who were also parties to the consent decree, said the $5 million penalty is the largest for a Clean Air Act citizen lawsuit in Pennsylvania history, and one of three largest in the nation.

“This historic announcement shows that we will not sit by while illegal air pollution rains down on nearby communities and the Pennsylvanians who live in them,” said PennEnvironment Executive Director David Masur in a news release.

U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy cannot approve the settlement until a legally required 45-day waiting period ends, according to the Clean Air Council.

Attorneys for the groups added that the announced sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel Corp. will not affect the settlement.