The Allegheny Front

An explosion at a U.S. Steel coke plant outside of Pittsburgh killed two workers and sent 10 to the hospital. We'll hear a worker's first-hand account of the incident and what nearby residents in the Mon River valley are saying. The plant has a history of maintenance problems, explosions, and environmental violations. Climate change is making it harder to keep invasive plants away from recreational trails in Pennsylvania. Volunteers are working to make trail systems more climate resilient.

The Trump administration has paused new rules that would have reduced air pollution from steel mills drifting into surrounding communities. What advocates and residents who live near U.S. Steel plants are saying. Wildfire smoke from Canada is contributing to home-grown air pollution, and what we can do about it. A Pittsburgh-area library is loaning gas-free cooktops for patrons to test out.

Electricity prices are rising, and many are pointing the finger at the new energy demand created by data centers. An energy expert on where this is all heading. The Trump administration is moving to overturn the scientific finding that greenhouse gases are bad for public health. A Washington County gas company is facing criminal charges for a massive leak at a gas storage field. More than two years after the disaster in East Palestine, lawmakers are still trying to increase safety regulations on railroads. We tag along on a wildflower hike in the incomparable Dolly Sods Wilderness.

Solar installations on homes have been booming because of tax breaks from the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, those incentives are going away. Pennsylvania could also lose $156 million meant to help low-income people reduce their energy bills through solar power. But seventy acres of a former steel slag heap is almost cleaned up and ready to transform into a sea of solar panels. The price for energy is rising at the region's electric grid operator. Companies that mine metallurgical coal are now in line to receive a 2.5 percent tax credit thanks to President Trump's budget bill.

President Trump was in Pittsburgh whipping up support for building data centers and the gas infrastructure to power them. But many worry that electricity ratepayers will get stuck with higher bills as demand for energy grows. A new online tool helps people who live near industrial facilities learn more about the chemicals and pollutants they’re being exposed to. Clean air quality advocates in Allegheny County held a virtual town hall meeting this week to push for increasing certain industrial operating fees. 

Swimmer's itch is a rash you can get from swimming in lakes,so researchers working in the Great Lakes have tried to eradicate it by treating ducks that carry the parasite that causes it. Nothing worked, and people have started thinking about the problem of wimmer's itch differently. It has been five years since a Pennsylvania grand jury report slammed state regulators for not protecting residents from the impacts of fracking. Advocates want Governor Josh Shapiro to do more. Environmental groups will soon be canvassing Southwestern Pennsylvania on foot, by car, and by drone in an effort to find abandoned oil and gas wells.

Pennsylvania leaders say the state needs more energy, so there’s a plan to create a board to streamline the siting of new power projects. Environmental groups and others are split on the idea. Environmental groups in Western Pennsylvania want to meet with officials from Nippon Steel to discuss how it plans to clean up its newly acquired U.S. Steel plants in the region. Residents who live along the Mountain Valley gas pipeline are still worried a year later about their health and safety. A new exhibit at the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden plays with the idea of movement.

The Ohio River Basin provides millions of people with water, but it's one of the most polluted river systems in America. A plan to clean up the Ohio River goes public. Are President Trump and congressional Republicans going to tank America's EV industry before it can get off the ground? An effort to make buildings in Pittsburgh more efficient meets a milestone.

The approval of a coal mine expansion in Western Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands has residents worried. Also, more than 100 mine researchers and engineers at a federal office in Allegheny County are slated for termination. We talk with Pittsburgh journalists who were asked by Australians to report about Alcoa's mining operations near an ancient forest there. Cicadas make their 17-year appearance in central Pa.