By Julie St. John, Pittsburgh Organizer
For years, Clean Water Action in Pittsburgh has been working to clean up air pollution coming from the Shenango coke works on Neville Island. The facility is located on a heavily industrialized piece of land less than one mile from densely populated residential communities and only five miles from downtown Pittsburgh. When new owners, DTE Energy, bought the company in 2008, residents were hopeful they would finally see improvements to the air they breathe. Now, it's clear that DTE Energy has no more interest in being a good neighbor than the previous owners did.
Between July 26, 2012 and September 30, 2013, a 432-day period, violations of air pollution regulations occurred on at least 330 of those days.
On March 20th, Clean Water Action gathered with local community groups, small businesses, unions and faith leaders in a barber shop in one of the communities just across the river from the Shenango coke works. The 36-member coalition called on the Allegheny County Health Department to step up, do their job and issue a strong enforcement order against the company for the continued air pollution violations.
The communities around this polluting facility need a change. They are sick of their schools having asthma rates that are
double the state average. They are sick of being at an increased risk for cancer. They are sick of not knowing if the
air they are breathing is going to kill them. If the coke works cannot comply with all environmental regulations, they need to cease production until they can.
