Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Opinion of the U.S. Steel-ACHD Settlement Agreement Heard (and a GASP Special Report, to boot)

Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Opinion of the U.S. Steel-ACHD Settlement Agreement Heard

A public hearing on the proposed Settlement Agreement between U.S. Steel and the Allegheny County Health Department regarding emissions issues at the company’s Clairton Coke Works is slated for July 30—giving affected residents, environmentalists, and other interested parties an opportunity to have their say.

Here at GASP, part of our mission is educational in nature. A very important part of our job as an educator and watchdog is ensuring that our members and friends are armed with the information they need to feel comfortable speaking out on issues that are complex and somewhat technical. We get that standing up in public and delivering timed comments can be nerve-wracking.

That’s why we put together this guide, which will walk you through:

What you need to know about the agreement.
What parts of the agreement GASP and others are hopeful will help improve local air quality.
What parts we have concerns about—ones we believe you might share.
How the public hearing will be conducted, and guidelines for delivering a comment verbally.
How to submit a written comment to ACHD if you cannot attend the hearing.
Sample language to make your comments—whether they are delivered verbally or via email or snail mail—easier to prepare.

Check it out on our GASP blog here.

SPECIAL REPORT: U.S. Steel Investors Sue Company, Allege Systemic Maintenance/Operational Failures; Did Investors Uncover Intentional Acts That Threatened Local Air Quality?

GASP staff members took a deep dive into a federal class-action lawsuit filed in April against U.S. Steel on behalf of its investors. The complaint, which can be read in its entirety here, includes testimony from current and former U.S. Steel employees who were deposed as—and referred to in court documents—as confidential witnesses.

Those confidential witnesses, one of whom worked at the Clairton Coke Works for 40 years, describe systemic maintenance and operational failures during the implementation of a program called The Carnegie Way.

GASP staff then looked at U.S. Steel’s air emissions compliance during the period of time when The Carnegie Way was active by analyzing Allegheny County Health Department’s 2018 enforcement order, as well as court transcripts from the hearing related to U.S. Steel’s appeal of that order.

That analysis shows that the company was struggling to comply with air emissions standards during the same period of time when the plaintiff’s alleged U.S. Steel asked employees to “jury rig” machines and generally operated with a “don’t buy, get by” mentality.

You can read the entire special report here .