HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Steel has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the Pittsburgh-based company of violating federal clean air laws by operating plants without its desulfurization controls for more than three months, emitting clouds of sulfurous gas into surrounding towns.

The settlement with environmental groups Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment and the Allegheny County Health Department was filed in federal court Monday for a judge to review, the groups said.

PennEnvironment and the other plaintiffs accused the steel producer of more than 12,000 violations of its air pollution permits.

They put the value of the settlement at $42 million, including $37 million worth of improvements to U.S. Steel’s pollution control and plant reliability systems at its Mon Valley Works plants.

The rest is a $5 million penalty that U.S. Steel agreed to pay to fund clean air efforts. It is one of the largest-ever fines nationally in a citizen-enforced lawsuit under federal clean air laws, Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment said.

“This historic announcement should send a message to all illegal polluters who put the health and environment of Pittsburghers at risk,” David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, said at a news conference Monday. “We will not sit by while illegal air pollution rains down on nearby communities and the Pennsylvanians who live in them.”

U.S. Steel said it regretted the “accidental” emissions and that it strives to comply with environmental regulations.

“When we miss that mark, we will make changes so we can do better,” said Kurt Barshick, the company’s Mon Valley Works vice president, said in a statement.

The environmental groups sued in 2019, after a Christmas Eve fire at the Clairton coke works plant caused $40 million in damage.

The fire damaged pollution control equipment and led to repeated releases of sulfur dioxide, the lawsuit said. Sulfur dioxide is a colorless, pungent byproduct of fossil fuel combustion that can make it hard to breathe.

In the wake of the fire, Allegheny County warned residents to limit outdoor activities, with residents saying for weeks afterward that the air felt acidic, smelled like rotten eggs and was hard to breathe.

The fire knocked out pollution controls at its Mon Valley plants, but U.S. Steel continued to run them anyway, the groups said.

The lawsuit also cited repeated breakdowns at the Clairton plant, including one in 2019 in which the company reported a release of 525,000 pounds of coke oven gas from a pressure release valve. Allegheny County, which is home to Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley Works plants, said U.S. Steel has already spent about half of the $37 million on improvements.

U.S. Steel also must permanently close approximately 60 of the worst polluting coke ovens, the groups said. The ovens turn coal into coke, a raw ingredient in the steelmaking process.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Yesterday’s 3-2 ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of an older state law that limits the use of Medicaid dollars to cover abortion costs has received at least one major dissenter in the State House of Representatives.

House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County said in a statement following the decision on Tuesday that  “Pennsylvania law already allows public funds to be used to pay for abortions in case of incest, rape or to protect the life of the mother. This decision, supported by only part of the seven-member court, eviscerates the past, well-established precedent of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and opens the door for tax dollars to pay for all elective abortions.”

Cutler additionally stated that the decision “does nothing but further the divide over such a sensitive topic and will only lead to more mischief and bad faith where lawmakers and other elected officials should be leading with respect and understanding.”

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The Shell Polymers plant in Monaca will be holding a virtual community meeting tomorrow, Wednesday January 31st, from 7 until 8 PM.

Shell invites any and all community members to attend this meeting where the leadership team will discuss current operations, provide details about recent flaring, and talk about the philanthropic actions that Shell has taken in Beaver County and nearby communities.

Registrations and questions for the meeting can be submitted by going to www.shell.us/poly-e.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

After a week of rising due to the cold spell that fell upon Western Pennsylvania, gas prices once again dipped slightly across the region. According to AAA East Central’s latest report, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline has fallen to $3.39. That average is one cent below last week’s $3.40 a gallon, and down a full 48 cents from the average of $3.87 one year ago.

Beaver County once again follows the trends of the region, moving one cent down from $3.47/gallon last week to $3.46/gallon this week. Pittsburgh drops one cent as well from $3.45/gallon to $3.44/gallon, but Butler jumps two cents from $3.47/gallon last week to $3.49/gallon this week.

Conversely, the national average has risen three cents this week to $3.10/gallon according to AAA East Central, due to the overall rising cost of oil.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                        $3.393
Average price during the week of January 22, 2024                                         $3.401
Average price during the week of January 30, 2023                                         $3.865

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.269      Altoona
$3.463      Beaver
$3.587      Bradford
$3.198      Brookville
$3.494      Butler
$3.340      Clarion
$3.214      DuBois
$3.239      Erie
$3.481      Greensburg
$3.483      Indiana
$3.484      Jeannette
$3.594      Kittanning
$3.490      Latrobe
$3.190      Meadville
$3.349      Mercer
$3.111      New Castle
$3.450      New Kensington
$3.399      Oil City
$3.440      Pittsburgh
$3.279      Sharon
$3.456      Uniontown
$3.599      Warren
$3.434      Washington