U.S. Steel, Allegheny County finalize Clairton Coke Works emissions settlement

The Allegheny County Health Department and U.S. Steel have finalized the terms of a June 2019 settlement agreement that required improvements at the Clairton Coke Works and created a Community Benefit Trust, the health department announced Monday.

The final agreement includes naming Pittsburgh-based Smithfield Trust Company as the administrator of the trust, which was established to support communities impacted by air pollution from the Clairton Coke Works.

Those communities include Clairton, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln and Port Vue.

The Allegheny County Health Department and U.S. Steel will not be involved in administering the fund.

“U.S. Steel is pleased to have reached this agreement with the health department as it reflects the company’s commitment to making meaningful improvements in our neighboring communities and shared environment,” Scott Buckiso, a U.S. Steel senior vice president, said in a statement. “We thank the public for participating in the comment period.”

The settlement agreement, which applies to emissions violations that occurred at the Clairton Coke Works in 2018 and early 2019, requires U.S. Steel to pay $2.7 million in fines.

A portion of those fines — about $2.4 million — served as the initial deposit into a Community Benefit Trust.

An additional $699,262 in fines related to emissions violations that occurred in the second and third quarters of 2019 was deposited into the trust in January.

Moving forward, 90% of all battery fugitive emissions violations at the Clairton Coke Works will be deposited into the Community Benefit Trust, according to the health department statement.

The funds can be used for projects that will “improve, protect or reduce the risk to public health or the environment,” according to an agreement outlining the terms of the trust.

Those projects do not need to be explicitly related to air quality but must address some aspect of environmental or public health. This includes building infrastructure like parks, green spaces and playgrounds or establishing programs that improve residents’ well-being.

A “trust distribution board” comprised of members from each of the impacted communities will participate in considering and approving projects.

The funds will be invested and managed as a single trust; however, a percentage of the total will be allocated to each of the impacted communities based on their respective populations and area in square miles, according to the agreement.

Clairton will be allocated 26.73% of the funds, with 19.91% allocated to Glassport, 15.11% allocated to Liberty, 21.91% allocated to Lincoln and 16.32% allocated to Port Vue.

The settlement agreement also includes enforcement orders that require U.S. Steel to make specific improvements at the Clairton Coke Works in order to reduce emissions. That work is expected to cost about $200 million.