At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Steel officials said workers were preparing two coke batteries for routine maintenance before the explosion. They declined to say whether the maintenance process contributed to the explosion, however, noting the investigation is in an early stage.
Though earlier reports cited witness accounts of multiple explosions, U.S. Steel officials on Tuesday said only one explosion occurred — at coke batteries 13 and 14 — followed by a pressure release from two other batteries.
Scott Buckiso, senior vice president and chief manufacturing officer for U.S. Steel’s North American Flat-Rolled segment, said the smoke from the pressure release was a sign that those batteries were operating as they should.
“They did exactly what they were supposed to do from a safety standpoint,” he said. “That’s why we saw a bit of a plume when those two [released].”
Buckiso oversees U.S. Steel’s flat-rolled steel production operations in the Monongahela Valley and elsewhere in North America. He said there were no signs that indicated whether either of the batteries was malfunctioning or at risk of explosion.
The Clairton plant was in operation Tuesday, although the four batteries involved in the blast remained offline.
U.S. Steel executives, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, shared few other details at the news conference. U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt said the investigation is just beginning to examine what caused the blast.
“We’re not going to speculate. We’re going to let the people do their work and support them in that important job,” Burrit said. “We will share as much as we can as soon as we can.”
In the meantime, Burritt said operations would continue and that the company would provide workers with counselors to speak with them at the plant.
Part of U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works, the Clairton plant converts coal to coke, a key component in the steel-making process. To make coke, coal is baked in special ovens for hours at high temperatures to remove impurities that could otherwise weaken steel. The process creates what’s known as coke gas — made up of a lethal mix of methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
- Clairton Coke Works, site of Monday’s explosion, has a history of problems
U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works. Kiley Koscinski / 90.5 WESA
Shapiro: Steelworkers owed ‘answers to their questions’
The explosion, which Clairton city officials said could be felt as far as two miles from the plant, happened shortly before 11 a.m. Monday.
Shapiro applauded the effort of local first-responders and said he would continue to share state resources with Allegheny County officials as the investigation unfolds. He said he’s confident that U.S. Steel will cooperate with authorities to ensure a fully transparent investigation. He stressed that the families of the steelworkers are owed “answers to their questions.”
“It is dangerous work that they do. It shouldn’t be as dangerous as it was yesterday,” Shapiro said. “We owe them an answer for what happened.”
Officials identified one of the two victims as Timothy Quinn, 39, of Westmoreland County. Shapiro said the name of the second victim would not be released immediately at the request of that person’s family.
Shapiro, who visited with Quinn’s family earlier in the day, shared that he used the name “T.Q.” and was the parent of three children. He was a second-generation steel worker who was devoted to his family, Shapiro added.
“We have a responsibility to remember his legacy,” Shapiro said. “And we will make sure that his children know that their dad was a special man.”
Ten workers required hospital treatment for injuries caused by the blast. As of Tuesday night, five of those men remained in local hospitals in critical but stable condition, county officials said.
Five other men were treated at the Allegheny Health Network’s Jefferson Hospital and released. “Multiple people” also were treated at the plant for minor injuries that did not require hospital care, but county police detectives have not determined how many, county officials added.
Nippon Steel: Committed to investing in U.S. Steel facilities
U.S. Steel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Steel, after a $15 billion acquisition in June that included a national security agreement between the United States and Japan.
Reporters on Tuesday questioned whether the explosion at Clairton Coke Works could negatively impact the future of steelmaking in the Mon Valley, and whether damage resulting from the explosion could lead to the closure of the plant. Burritt quickly dismissed those concerns, noting that he had been in conversation with Nippon executives in the aftermath of the explosion.
A planned $2 billion investment into the Clairton plant is still on, and the specifics of that investment will be shaped by the outcome of the investigation, Burritt said. He stressed that the plant would remain in the Mon Valley.
“This facility and the Mon Valley are here to stay,” Burritt said. “We’re investing money here … and you can count on this facility to be around for a long time.”
Nippon Steel issued a statement Wednesday that said the company is “committed to providing all necessary resources to fully support the healing and recovery process with safety at the center of everything we do.”
“Nippon Steel is deeply saddened by the incident at Clairton,” the company’s statement said. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and coworkers of the deceased U. S. Steel employees, and pray for speedy recovery of those injured.”
Health department: Air-pollutant risk remains low
Speaking Tuesday in Clairton, Innamorato said that particulate matter and sulfur dioxide in the air around the plant remained within national air quality limits during the explosion. The county is closely monitoring levels at U.S. Steel facilities in Clairton, Liberty and Braddock, she added.
Innamorato said health department inspectors were at the plant during the explosion Monday, but were unharmed. Health department workers were on-site Tuesday as well to complete inspections with the assistance of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, she added.
Innamorato said the county’s investigation of the incident will be thorough.
“ We all share a common goal,” she said. “We want to get to the bottom of what happened, and we want to prevent it from ever happening again.”
County public health director Dr. Iulia Vann also briefed reporters Tuesday afternoon, explaining that continuous air monitoring after the explosion indicated that risks of air pollutants were low for surrounding communities.
“ The health department maintains a 24/7 monitoring at multiple fixed stations, including Clairton, Liberty, Glassport, and North Braddock,” Vann said. “All showed levels of PM 2.5 [particulate matter] and sulfur dioxide to be within the national ambient air-quality limits before, during, and after the event yesterday and throughout the day.”
The county health department initially told residents within a mile of the plant to remain indoors and close all windows and doors, but the agency lifted the advisory later Monday. Vann said the advisory was a precautionary measure.
David Good, the county’s director of air-quality monitoring, added that additional air-quality samples were taken at the Liberty monitoring station yesterday and tested for regular particulate matter, chemical speciation, and BTEX — or volatile organic — compounds, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes.
“This happened to occur on a sampling day,” Good explained.
He said the chemical speciation data would “measure the chemical fingerprint of the particulate matter itself, and we can see if there were any aberrations.”
Good said benzene tests could be turned around in weeks, and that chemical speciation data would take months.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
