Clairton sits in the shadow of US Steel's massive Clairton Coke Works. There's a growing concern among residents that the plant's emissions are causing asthma and cancer. But can a town prove that pollution is causing its health problems?
A research team at Carnegie Mellon is one year into a three-year project to help people in the Pittsburgh region learn more about pollutants they’re exposed to through the air. It’s funded through the EPA’s Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities program, and it was one of only six projects funded throughout the country.
The Clairton Coke plant - the largest in the country - has become something of a lightening rod in this community. And the town is full of people who are new to understanding what's going on and becoming active for the first time. Meet three of them.
