Steel Mills

U.S. Steel Completes Coke Oven Repairs, Still Faces Fines

April 7, 2019

U.S. Steel has completed repairs to the desulfurizing equipment for the coke ovens at the Clairton Plant in Pennsylvania following a fire in December. A Christmas Eve blaze caused significant damage to the gas processing equipment, releasing sulfur dioxide emissions at nearly five times the allowed amount.

Said the company in a statement April 4: “U.S. Steel is pleased to announce that we are now desulfurizing 100% of the coke oven gas generated at our Clairton Plant. While we employed many effective mitigation measures after a fire on Dec. 24 caused catastrophic damage to the facility, we are now able to operate the state-of-the-art desulfurization plant again. This is an important milestone in our repair efforts and we will continue to monitor and adjust coking times as appropriate.”

The Allegheny County Health Department issued an enforcement order against U.S. Steel requiring them to complete repairs by April 15. U.S. Steel was able to do so 11 days early, but will still be hit with fines. The ACHD said it will begin a “comprehensive assessment of violations since the Dec. 24, 2018, fire to determine the amount of resulting civil penalties.”

“Our recent enforcement efforts have been focused on addressing this situation as well as all other violations from the Coke Works and Mon Valley Works facilities,” said ACHD Director Karen Hacker. “We will continue to be aggressive and proactive and hold U.S. Steel and all other polluters accountable.

Fines Pile Up for U.S. Steel

ACHD fined U.S. Steel $707,568 for operational violations concerning the coke batteries that occurred during the third and fourth quarters last year. That enforcement order dated March 29 follows orders in 2018 for emissions violations that carried fines of $1 million and $620,000. U.S. Steel is appealing the orders and will review the latest enforcement action.

Jim Kelly, deputy director of environmental health at ACHD, said violation occurrence is improving at the Clairton Plant after peaking at 159 during the second quarter of 2018. Fourth-quarter data shows 75 violations.

“Those violations are improving,” said Kelly. “We are seeing fewer violations and therefore each quarter hopefully we will see a lower penalty assessed.”

In a website message, U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt said, “I believe wholeheartedly that the protection of our shared environment and workplace safety are linked. U.S. Steel is fully committed to providing safe work environments for our employees as well as maintaining a laser focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship for the communities in which we live and operate.”

Clairton is part of the Mon Valley works and is located about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. As the largest coke manufacturing facility in the U.S, Clairton operates 10 coke oven batteries and produces approximately 4.3 million tons of coke annually.