Inadequate safety and training led to 2025 blast at Shell’s ethane cracker, federal safety board finds
The agency found one of the engineers who initiated the procedure that precipitated the explosion “had never previously performed the task.”
Reid Frazier
EPA announces rollback of climate pollution rules for power plants
The announcement is the latest in a back-and-forth between Democratic and Republican administrations over whether or not to limit power plants’ greenhouse gas pollution.
Pa. fines Shell $15 million for air pollution from its Beaver County plastics plant
The plant went over the allowable limit for benzene, a carcinogen, and it failed to perform testing required by the state.
Archaeologists dig in Lake Erie, looking for relics of the Ice Age
Underwater archaeology may hold the keys to discovering how ancient humans lived before seas rose. “Everywhere people have looked, they've found...preserved things left behind.”
State to study whether area in Laurel Highlands is ‘unsuitable’ for coal mine
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will conduct an expansive technical review of the Rustic Ridge coal mine, studying impacts to drinking water, wildlife, and tourism.
U.S. Steel’s ‘ineffective’ safety procedures led to explosion that killed two, federal chemical safety board concludes
U.S. Steel failed to follow industry guidelines that could have prevented or reduced the severity of the explosion, a federal agency found.
U.S. Steel shows off its newest investment to a community divided
U.S. Steel says its new hot strip mill in Braddock will improve its environmental performance and productivity by replacing an aging operation.
Energy Transfer seeks to expand gas plant with history of problems in Washington County
The processing station has had multiple violations since beginning operations in 2020, and is trying to expand operations.
What a court ruling on upholding a Biden-era air quality standard means for Pennsylvania
A federal appeals court upheld a Biden-era air quality standard for soot. Allegheny County and other areas in PA could be out of compliance with the new standard.
Groups say Nippon Steel investments will perpetuate coal and air pollution in the Mon Valley
They say upgrades don’t incorporate newer technologies but instead are "stopgap things to make U.S. Steel profitable in the short term."
