Steel Mills
U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works Resumes Normal Operation
Written by Sandy Williams
June 19, 2019
A small fire at Clairton Coke Works on Monday caused no environmental damage in the Mon Valley area, confirmed U.S. Steel and the Allegheny County Health Department.
U.S. Steel said that the fire was the result of an electric arc flash on a breaker panel that provides power to Control Room #1 equipment. The fire was quickly put out and the U.S. Steel fire team extinguished the smoldering breaker and secured the area.
The fire shut down three control rooms essential for scrubbing sulphur dioxide from coke oven gases. Control room #1 was quickly returned to operation, but rooms #2 and #5 remained shut down on Monday afternoon. Mitigation efforts were deployed while the desulfurization equipment was down to prevent sulfur dioxide emissions, the company said.
By 8:15 p.m. on Monday, power was restored and the desulfurization process was resumed for 100 percent of the coke gas generated at the Clairton plant, said U.S. Steel. Repairs to the damaged electrical breaker panel will be completed in one to two weeks. In the meantime, normal operations have resumed.
The Allegheny County Health Department air quality monitors in the Mon Valley showed no sulfur dioxide exceedance as a result of the incident. ACHD inspectors visited the plant on Tuesday and confirmed the desulfurization system was restored and U.S. Steel had met the concerns of an emergency order issued on Monday.
“Repairs continue and we are evaluating all options to ensure our Clairton Plant continues to operate in a safe and environmentally sound manner,” said U.S. Steel in its update on Wednesday morning.
Sandy Williams
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