ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY HEADLINESEnvironment and Sustainability
U.S. Steel to Accelerate Repairs at Clairton Coke Works
Jun. 11, 2007 U.S. Steel will invest $76 million in its Clairton Coke Works as part of a consent agreement the company reached with the Allegheny County (Pa.) Health Department.
The agreement requires U.S. Steel to accelerate repairs on Battery B, the largest of Clairton’s 12 coke oven batteries. U.S. Steel will also pay a civil penalty of $395,900 into the County Clean Air Fund to settle past violations and has agreed to pay stipulated penalties for visible emission violations recorded by its continuous smoke monitor during the term of the agreement. The company may use part of that amount to fund a required $70,000 supplemental environmental project to control dust from plant roadways.
The company was cited for exceeding limits on smoke and particulate emissions from Battery B, which contains 75 of the plant’s 816 ovens. The baghouse that controls emissions when Battery B’s ovens are emptied failed compliance tests for particulate emissions in 2005 and 2006, and the main combustion stack’s built-in continuous smoke monitor recorded frequent violations of the County’s visible emission standard.
Repairs, which include complete replacement of the oven walls, have been ongoing since late 2005 but must now be completed by June 30, 2010. Health officials expect the project to significantly improve air quality for residents of the Clairton area, which is currently classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a non-attainment area for the national standard for particulate pollution.
U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works is the largest coke plant in the United States.