Environmental group finds high benzene levels at homes near U.S. Steel plants in Mon Valley

Dave Meckel’s Glassport home is Ground Zero for air pollution in the Mon Valley.

Sitting on a quiet back road about 850 yards from U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works on the Monongahela River, the home accumulates its share of black, sooty particulate matter from the plant, as well as from U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, which operates around the clock less than a mile away, Meckel said.

When Meckel wipes down porch furniture or windows at his house, the rag always comes up black. He recently deep-cleaned his home’s siding — the task took 23 long hours to complete.

“Benzene and hydrogen sulfide — that’s what we’re breathing. Everybody in this valley is breathing it,” said Meckel, 74, a retired Marine who has lived in Glassport for 20 years. “How damn long do I have to complain before someone does something? Nobody’s doing nothing.”

The Washington, D.C.-based group Environmental Integrity Project said last week it found that two-week average concentrations of benzene at two residences near U.S. Steel operations — one of them Meckel’s — exceeded 10 and 16 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

Given that benzene concentrations can vary widely over short periods of time, the group said 24-hour concentrations might have exceeded 29 micrograms per cubic meter, a threshold the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry says can increase the risk of noncancerous health effects such as a weakened immune system.

People who breathe in high levels of benzene for even short periods can develop drowsiness and dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeats, headaches and tremors, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lengthier exposure might lead to anemia — which afflicts Meckel’s wife — and leukemia, the CDC says. Three of the Meckels’ dogs over the years have died from cancerous growths, he said.

Those benzene readings on Mon Valley residential properties such as Meckel’s led EIP and others to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to step in and take more action when it comes to air pollutants attributed to U.S. Steel operations.

In a letter dated last Wednesday, activists asked the EPA to require U.S. Steel to install and operate fence-line monitoring systems for benzene and other toxic materials at its Clairton, Irvin Works and Edgar Thomson plants.

“Benzene concentrations this high are just not acceptable,” EIP Deputy Director Jen Duggan said. “Local authorities have repeatedly failed to seriously address toxic pollution from the U.S. Steel plants, and we are asking EPA to step in and provide the necessary relief for these communities and workers at the plant.”

A U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski defended the steel-making giant’s operations, saying that its Clairton plant in 2021 “continued its relentless pursuit of environmental excellence, which I am deeply proud of.”

“In a year where the Clairton Plant ramped up production to meet increased coke/steel demand, the plant continued to maintain its excellent environmental performance in terms of combustion stack and fugitive compliance,” Malkowski said. “Furthermore, based on 2021 data, the nearby Liberty monitor was in attainment with National Ambient Air Quality Standards for all criteria pollutants.”

She said the Clairton plant last year implemented “several environmental-related reliability projects,” including piping and tank-improvement projects to improve the reliability of operations and upgrading electrical systems.

Was it enough?

Pollutants in airborne particulate matter exceeded federal air quality standards for six days in October and November, the EIP reported. Hydrogen sulfide levels also were above state air quality standards more than twenty days.

Allegheny County Health Department hit U.S. Steel with more than $800,000 in fines for alleged pollution and permit violations at the Clairton Coke Works last year. It added another $458,000 for this year’s operations on Dec. 2.

Benzene levels at the Mon Valley residences “are comparable to those found in neighborhoods surrounded by chemical plants and refineries in Texas,” EIP said.

Germaine Gooden-Patterson is a long-time Clairton resident whose home monitoring also turned up heightened benzene levels. Gooden-Patterson, a steering committee member of Valley Clean Air Now, says she wants U.S. Steel to be more accountable for the pollutants it emits.

“The most important ask and the bottom line is the protection of public health,” Gooden-Patterson said. “Residents, specifically in the Mon Valley, in Clairton, should not have to suffer at the cost of industry financial gains. My health is at risk, my children’s health is at risk and my neighbor’s health is at risk.”