The public health is also under threat by these and many others

>>> Article by Randi Pokladnik, PhD Environmental Scientist, Tappan Lake, OH, May 7, 2022

Twenty years ago, I lost my mother to cancer. She died two months before her 70th birthday. Her cancer had already progressed to stage 3 by the time of her diagnosis so the outlook for a long-term survival was not good.

At first it was hard to believe that she was sick. She looked perfectly healthy but her oncologist informed us that cancer cells had been slowly growing inside her body for many years. Unlike other cells in our body which have specific functions, cancer cells are undifferentiated, meaning they have no function other than to grow.

Our family wanted to know what caused my mom’s cancer. Her lifestyle wasn’t one that might have led to the development of cancer. Her oncologist told us that “unfortunately these tumors do not come with labels,” however, he pointed out that my mom, like many of his other patients, was born and raised in the heavily industrialized Ohio River Valley.There were few regulations in place in the 1930s and 1940s to protect human health and the environment.

The National Institute of Health Sciences reports that more than two-thirds of cancer is from environmental exposures to substances including pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, benzene, dioxins, and vinyl chlorides.

My folks moved from Steubenville, Ohio (a city once noted as having the dirtiest air in the nation) to Toronto, Ohio in 1962. In 1970, Weirton Steel began construction of their coke ovens on Brown’s Island just outside Toronto’s city limits. Coke ovens heat coal to high temperatures to remove sticky coal tars. These tarry substances are collected and used to make various aromatic solvents like benzene, which are carcinogenic. The remaining light weight coke is used during the steel-making process.

The coke plant drew national attention in late 1972 when 21 workers were killed in an explosion at the construction site. Our home, which was located less than a mile away, was rocked by the explosion. For nearly a decade we lived in the shadow of the dangerous aromatic hydrocarbon emissions spewed from the ovens. By 1982, locally produced coke became too expensive and the plant was shut down. However, the pollution in the form of coal tars and benzene containing compounds remained in the local soils and ground water.

Like many people who are diagnosed with terminal cancer, my mom was willing to try anything to gain a few more months of life. But once the cancer spread to her major organs, she had to admit she wasn’t going to beat the cancer. She would not see her grandkids grow up or see another birthday, she wouldn’t grow old, she wouldn’t celebrate another Mother’s Day with us. Cancer had essentially canceled my mom’s life. She lost her hair, her life savings, her dignity and eventually her life.

We will never know for sure if living in the Ohio Valley had contributed to my mom’s cancer but our next-door neighbor died at the age of 14 from leukemia and another friend died at the age of 11 from stomach cancer.

For years the petrochemical industry has discounted the connection of environmental toxins to cancer and they continue to deny the major role they play in the climate crisis. Many consumers are unaware of the risks associated with these toxic products, which include many personal care products, cleaning products, and lawn and garden chemicals. Industry and government agencies do minimal testing for health effects and provide little information to the public.

Countess studies now show that forever chemicals known as polyfluoroalkyl substances, “PFAS”, are now basically found everywhere on the planet: in food packaging and fast-food wrappers, in water, in fish, and in municipal waste biosolids. These compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and numerous other diseases.

Environmental Lawyer, Rob Bilott (of “Dark Waters” fame), said in a recent interview, “one of the things we found in the internal files of the main manufacturer of the chemical PFOS was that this company was well aware by the 1970s that PFOS was being found in the general US population’s blood and was being found at fairly significant levels.” Yet the manufacturers failed to share this information with citizens.

“In July 2021, a report by Physicians for Social Responsibility presented evidence that oil and gas companies have been using PFAS, or substances that can degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing, a technique used to extract natural gas or oil.” Ignoring the toxicityassociated with fracking fluids and claiming a need for “energy independence”, local, state and federal politicians are calling for more fracking.

Corporate CEOs and cancer cells have this characteristic in common; their main goal is growth. The collateral damage of that growth is of no concern to them so long as their stock values climb. Scientists frantically warn us we are devastating fragile ecosystems and warming the planet to dangerous temperatures. Still CEOs, media, and politicians ignore the warnings.

Many people, including scientists, have become as desperate as cancer patients; searching for an answer, a cure, some way to stop the death of our planet. It was devastating to watch my mother slip away bit by bit until she was barely recognizable. It’s also devastating to watch the only habitable planet in our solar system, the one that harbors so many marvelous creatures and ecosystems, being killed by corporate greed and a dysfunctional economic system that requires the consumption of Mother Earth to make a buck.

Clairton Coke Works from above Monongahela River

Article by Michael Machosky, Next Pittsburgh, April 30, 2021

Photo of Clairton Coke Works from above Monongahela River, Mark Dixon, Blue Lens, LLC.

U.S. Steel’s decision to shut down one of Pittsburgh’s most notorious sources of pollution and cancel a $1.5 billion upgrade to the Mon Valley Works has reignited a longstanding conflict over jobs and environmental concerns.

“Today is a difficult day,” said David Burritt, president and CEO of U.S. Steel, in a statement posted on Twitter. “U.S. Steel is setting aside this project as we step forward to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world. In this world — a world that still needs steel — we need to find aggressive decarbonization solutions.”

“This month, U.S. Steel announced our goal to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050,” he added.

Zachary Barber, a clean air advocate with PennEnvironment praised the decision to permanently shut down three nearly-70-year-old coke batteries at the Clairton Coke Works in 2023.

“Permanently closing the three worst-polluting coke batteries at U.S. Steel’s Clairton plant will come as a huge breath of fresh air to residents in the Mon Valley and across the region,” said Barber. “For too long, U.S. Steel has run roughshod over our environmental protections and churned out dangerous levels of harmful air pollution. Closing these batteries is a necessary and long overdue step toward reducing that damage and cleaning our region’s air.”

Asthma rates for children in Clairton are three times higher than in the rest of the country. The Mon Valley frequently ranks among the worst places in the country for air quality, routinely failing the American Lung Association’s annual air quality reports.

About 3,000 people work at the Mon Valley Works’ three sites.

Clairton Coke Works is the third-most toxic air polluter in Allegheny County in PennEnvironment’s Toxic Ten list. The Cheswick Power Plant ranks as number one on the list and ATI Flat Rolled Products in Brackenridge is second. From 2012 until 2015, 6,700 air permit violations were reported for the Clairton plant, with more than four violations per day on average. In 2018, a massive Christmas Eve fire at Clairton Coke Works knocked out pollution controls for three months.

However, Pittsburgh Works Together, a union/business alliance, notes in a statement that U.S. Steel’s decision to cancel the upgrade to the Mon Valley Works (including its plants in Clairton, Braddock and West Mifflin) will cost an estimated 1,000 well-paying construction jobs, and signal “a diminished future for steelmaking in the Pittsburgh region.”

The project had included a state-of-the-art casting and rolling mill and co-generation plant.

“The continuous caster was intended to allow the Mon Valley Works to manufacture lighter, stronger steel intended for the auto industry, which in turn would have resulted in more efficient cars with lower emissions,” said Jeff Nobers, executive director of Pittsburgh Works Together. “Now that won’t happen here.”

A delay to the permitting process by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) during the pandemic was cited by U.S. Steel as a reason for their decision to rethink the investment.

“We are disappointed that there was a suggestion by U.S. Steel that their decision was based in part on the ACHD’s permitting process,” said ACHD Deputy Director of Environmental Health Jim Kelly. “We worked closely with U.S. Steel for an extensive period of time on this project, starting in May 2019. Certainly, COVID-19 had an impact on how all organizations operated. Neither the ACHD nor U.S. Steel were an exception. But I can verify that we continued to work proactively to move this project along.”

A number of elected officials expressed their disappointment. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who lives in Braddock, lamented the loss of a chance to make “the greenest steel in the world” in the Mon Valley, in a statement.

“I’m disappointed that the company isn’t moving forward with an initiative that would have been good for our environment, our economy & jobs, and our residents,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in a statement.

The steelmaking giant reiterated its commitment to the region, though. The three batteries to be shut down represent only 17% of coke production capacity at Clairton.“U.S. Steel remains committed to steelmaking in the Mon Valley for the next generation, with future investments to be developed in alignment with our 2050 carbon-neutral goal,” said Burritt.

“The decision to cancel this project is difficult but is made with optimism for what the future holds for the Mon Valley Works — an economic powerhouse the generated $4.6 billion to the region’s economy in 2018. I have no doubt that our skilled and dedicated workforce at the Mon Valley Works will help lead this change — we have always forged ahead together.”

According to a report by Public Source, if that 17% reduction in coke production leads to a 17% improvement in emissions, it would make the pollution levels in the Mon Valley more in line with neighborhoods like Lawrenceville and better than the air quality in North Braddock, Wilkinsburg, and Neville Island.

Some environmental groups criticized the steelmaking giant for not making the cleaner, more efficient upgrades that were promised. “This latest announcement continues U.S. Steel’s pattern of broken promises to residents of the Mon Valley while highlighting its recent purchase of Big River Steel’s electric arc furnace facility in Arkansas, a non–union shop,” said a statement by The Breathe Project. “The Mon Valley has endured a long history of broken promises, followed by abandonment, that has burdened communities for generations.”

“Instead of embracing innovation, investing in the Mon Valley and improving quality of life while securing employment, the latest announcement follows a pernicious cycle that leads to abandoning Mon Valley workers, communities and residents. The announcement also cynically uses the excuse of reducing the company’s carbon footprint for the announcement.”

Recently, U.S. Steel also ended its controversial effort to drill fracking wells for natural gas on the Edgar Thomson steel mill property in Braddock.

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GROUP AGAINST SMOG & POLLUTION, 412-924-0604, info@gasp-pgh.org

GASP’s Earth Week of Actions: How to Get Involved, Use Your Voice & Be in the Know About Air Quality, April 20, 2022

Earth Week is a great annual reminder of the importance of being in the know about local air quality issues, as well as getting involved with, and using your voice to, affect environmental change.

And this Earth Week, GASP wants to help you do that, so “Get in the Know” …

It’s been said many times, in many ways: Knowledge is power. This is especially true when it comes to air quality issues. Because we know *just* how complex and confusing air quality issues can be, we created the GASP’s Plain-Language Guide to Understanding Local Air Quality.

In this guide, we give you the skinny on what air pollutants are a concern locally, where it comes from, how air quality is regulated, as well as how to make an air quality complaint when you smell something foul in the ambient air.

Coke from Coal used for Steel from Iron

From an Article by Warren Scott, Wheeling Intelligencer, February 12, 2022

PHOTO in ARTICLE ~ Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. officials announced Friday the Mountain State Carbon coke plant in Follansbee soon will close permanently.

FOLLANSBEE — Citing a shift in the materials used to produce steel, officials with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. have announced they will be permanently closing the Mountain State Carbon coke plant in the second business quarter. The plant located in Follansbee employs 288.

Pat Persico, spokesperson for the company, said the move was spurred by the firm’s shift to the use of scrap metal hot briquetted iron in making steel, which produces lower carbon dioxide emissions. Last year the company announced plans to reduce emissions by 20% by 2030.

Persico said, “Fortunately, we anticipate that all impacted employees will have job opportunities at our other nearby facilities.” “We have been recruiting at all of our facilities. Depending on where they want to be, we have many opportunities,” she said. Actually, 12 hourly and three salaried employees will remain at the plant for a time to ensure its closing complies with environmental regulations.

Follansbee City Manager Jack McIntosh, who was called for comment, said, “I feel bad for the families who will be affected.” He said though it appears other jobs will be available to them, they will need to move with their families to fill them, and he is sorry to see residents leaving the city. McIntosh said the absence of a major business such as the coke plant also will impact the city’s budget.

While the plant relied on its own wastewater treatment system, it was one of the city’s largest water users, he said. McIntosh added the plant and the various vendors that supplied it also paid a lot of business and occupation tax to the city. “That affects us all,” he said.

The city manager said while he’s working to estimate the loss, he can say, “there will be budget cuts. We definitely will need to make some.” Staff at Mountain State Carbon and various vendors and contractors working there also have delivered thousands of pounds of food as well as monetary donations to the Follansbee R.E.A.C.H. Program, a local food pantry.

The nation’s largest producer of flat rolled steel and iron ore pellets, Cleveland-Cliffs reported record annual revenue of $20.4 billion and record annual net income of $3 billion for 2021. Cleveland-Cliffs acquired the coke plant and other AK Steel owned facilities in 2020. Over the years, the plant has been owned by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, R.G. Steel and Severstal North America.

Established in 1917, the plant was a major supplier of steel for the then-emerging auto industry, as well as the military during World War I. Workers at the plant are members of United Steelworkers Local 9545. They had signed a three-year agreement with the plant’s former owner, AK Steel, that is scheduled to expire at the end of April.