In December 2018, an explosion at the coke works critically damaged the facility’s No. 2 control room, shutting down the pollution control system and causing U.S. Steel to send unfiltered pollutants, including excessive amounts of SO2, into the Mon Valley’s air. Residents weren’t notified for 16 days.
The Clairton Coke Works plant was built in 1901 by the St. Clair Steel Company and acquired by U. S. Steel in 1904.
The first Title V operating permit for the Clairton Plant was issued on March 27, 2012, although the Title V Operating Permit program started as part of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.
The city’s economy started to decline in the 1950s when the steel industry started to also decline.
The Title V operating permit for Clairton Coke Works plant expired on March 26, 2017. The plant will operate on an expired Title V permit until Nov. 2022.
Clairton was declared a financially distressed community for 27 years under Pennsylvania’s Act 47 municipality recovery law until it was removed from the list in 2015.
2017
2012
1988
1950's
1901
2018
Another fire occurred on June 17, 2019, less than two weeks after repairs from the Christmas Eve fire were completed.
2019
The Coke Works alone accounts for 1.1 million pounds of toxic air pollution in 2021 while all the other Allegheny County toxic facilities combined released 1.4 million.
2021
U.S. EPA Objects To Clairton Coke Works' Air Pollution Title V Permit stating that it violates the Clean Air Act.
2023
U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works named Allegheny County's No. 1 air polluter (PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center)
2023
In 2022 alone, ACHD issued over $9 million in fines to U.S. Steel for emissions-related violations and Clairton & Clairton Coke Works plant finally gets their Title V permit renewal permit after a public-comment period in November 2022.
2022
U.S. EPA Objects To Clairton Coke Works' Air Pollution Title V Permit stating that it violates the Clean Air Act.
2023