Qiyam Ansari grew up in a town on one side of the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, Pa., and went to school on the other.
“We used to drive by the mill every day, we’d play outside, and I’d always wheeze,” he said.
When he was 16, Ansari had an asthma attack so bad he had to go into a medically induced coma to recuperate. Now his doctors say any asthma attack can be life-threatening for him. “Which means that they don’t know if I’ll survive another asthma attack.”
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Fighting U.S. Steel’s air pollution is what got him involved in his current job heading a local environmental advocacy group, Valley Clean Air Now.
Last year, the group and other environmental organizations applauded the EPA’s decision to tighten air pollution rules on the steel industry.
The new requirements, implemented under the Biden administration, would have prevented over 100 tons of toxic air pollutants from spewing out into Clairton and other steelmaking communities around the country.
But in July, the Trump administration issued a two-year pause on the rules.
“I think it’s just unfortunate,” Ansari said, “because there are real lives that are affected and there’s a real harm that’s being done.”
Biden’s attempt to clean up the steel industry blunted by Trump
Among the facilities that would have faced stricter rules was the Clairton Coke Works, a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh, where an explosion killed two workers on August 11. A gas valve failure is the likely cause, according to the company.
Along with the Braddock plant and a finishing mill in West Mifflin, Clairton is part of the company’s Mon Valley Works.
The plant emits 232 tons of hazardous air pollution a year into the surrounding community, including pollutants like cyanides and carcinogens like benzene and chromium, according to county data.
The 2024 rules on steel plants mandated limits on leaks and emissions of pollutants like mercury and arsenic. They also required fenceline monitoring around plants for carcinogens like benzene.
“The fence line monitoring specifically that we advocated for, for benzene, would’ve only cost [U.S. Steel] around $100,000 to implement,” Ansari said.
- EPA coke oven rule to bring new monitoring requirements to U.S. Steel’s Clairton plant (2024)
- Clairton Coke Works, site of explosion, has a history of problems
The EPA under President Donald Trump calculated the rules would have cost only about $9 million a year for the steel industry to implement. But the industry claimed the real number is over $3 billion.
“(I)mplementation of the 2024 rule would have come at exorbitant costs and would have provided little, if any, environmental benefit,” the company said in an emailed statement.
The EPA says it will take the industry’s data into consideration while it decides the rule’s fate. Environmental groups have sued to have the rule reinstated.
The administration could eventually implement the Biden-era rules, or propose new rules of its own, with weaker public health protections.
‘I hope it stays here’
The Clairton plant makes coke, a refined form of coal that’s a key part of steelmaking. Clairton is the nation’s largest coke plant, and is crucial for the city of Clairton, says its mayor, Rich Lattanzi.
“It’s about 30 percent of our tax base,” Lattanzi said. “Without that mill, I don’t think the city can run.”
Lattanzi retired from U.S. Steel in 2021. He believes environmental regulations are threatening the continued operations at the company’s plants, and supports Trump’s deregulatory approach
“Now we’ve at least got a window for four years right now, if not longer, that we can make some things happen,” he said, referring to Trump’s term in office and beyond. “I think big business is going to prosper. I think our economy is going to get better.”
Lattanzi is hopeful that U.S. Steel’s new owners, Japan’s Nippon Steel, will infuse the company with fresh capital to modernize equipment. In federal filings, Nippon says it will spend $2.4 billion in “capital investments” at the company’s Pittsburgh-area plants. The company plans to invest a total of $10.8 billion in U.S. Steel facilities around the country.
“I think with the environment, I think it’s gonna work itself out because of new technology,” Lattanzi said.
The optimism is shared by Ray Watson.
He lives in Clairton and is supportive of the steel industry there.
“Because you know what, it gives a lot of opportunity for young people, and me and the rest to have a job and have something to do here in Pittsburgh. I hope it stays here,” said Watson, 80.
Watson said he was “50/50” on whether the government should make air pollution standards more strict for steel mills. Originally from the South, he says the air around Clairton has steadily improved since he arrived years ago.
“The air pollution now is a lot better than it was before,” he said. “Because when I first came, you could smell it all the way around the town, but now you hardly ever smell it.”
A mixed record on polluted air
It’s true that air pollution data show air quality near the plant has improved in recent years. But it still doesn’t meet federal standards and ranks among the worst in the country.
Dr. Deborah Gentile thinks the EPA’s move to pause the new rules is misguided.
“This is definitely a bad move for the people in the Mon Valley,” Gentile said.
Gentile has studied local impacts from pollution at U.S. Steel’s plants in Western Pennsylvania. She found they contributed to higher absentee rates for students in Clairton schools. The children also had higher rates of asthma than state and national averages.
“We found a prevalence [of asthma] of about 22.4 percent in these school children residing near these facilities, and that’s double to triple what you should be seeing.”
‘You smell hydrogen sulfide’
Dave and Cindy Meckel lived for years in Glassport, a mile from the plant, and started having breathing problems about six or seven years ago.
Finally, last year, they decided they had had enough and moved to Butler County, about 30 miles north.
On a recent afternoon, Dave Meckel walked around his one-acre spread in a blue tank top and shorts, showing off a vast lawn he spends hours maintaining every week.
“You can take a deep breath and you can smell trees,” said. “You take a breath in Glassport and you smell hydrogen sulfide, you smell sulfur dioxide.”
Cindy Meckel said their decision to leave Glassport crystallized after three of their dogs died of cancer in a span of 8 years.
“When our last Rottweiler was diagnosed with cancer, we just said, it’s just a matter of time until it’s us next that gets diagnosed,” she said.
The Meckels voted for Donald Trump. But they disagreed with his decision to roll back the steel industry pollution rules. Cindy Meckel called the decision “extreme.” She believes that the issue of air pollution should not be so polarized.
“We can have both. You can breathe clean air and U.S. Steel can make money,” she said. “How many billions [in profits for U.S. Steel] does it have to be? And how many people are worth those billions?”
The Meckels have yet to sell their house in Glassport and are listing it with a real estate agent.
