Events like the one reported in the article “Damage reported at U.S. Steel facility in Braddock, followed by increase in air pollution,” Feb. 24, TribLive) make Allegheny County’s already bad air a lot worse.
The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) is charged with enforcing the Clean Air Act and keeping facilities like this from illegally releasing toxic air pollution. Funding for this work comes from operating permit fees paid by the facilities. Unfortunately, ACHD is woefully underfunded, making it harder to do its job to reduce air pollution and rein in illegal air polluters in the region.
There is a solution, thankfully. ACHD has proposed to increase fees on the region’s largest air polluters, to make sure they’re paying for regulating the air pollution that they create. Ensuring polluters pay their fair share will be critical to reducing air pollution in the county.
Allegheny County Council is poised to act on this proposal in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, some council members haven’t committed to supporting this proposal. County residents who want cleaner air should call their council member today at 412-350-6490 and ask them to support the polluter permit fee increase.
Wanda Wilson