Money is finally making its way to the Mon Valley communities affected by an industrial fire that broke out nearly 7 years ago, releasing clouds of sulfur and other harmful pollutants.

The Allegheny County Department of Economic Development [ACED] concluded its second of two town halls this week in McKeesport, gathering input and feedback on the distribution of the Mon Valley Public Health and Welfare Funds.

That fund was created from a $4.5 million settlement between U.S. Steel, PennEnvironment and the Allegheny County Health Department following a 2018 fire at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works that severely impacted the air quality for residents in the Mon Valley.

Half of the settlement money was set aside to be distributed through ACED over five years, for projects that “have a direct, tangible impact on public health and indoor/outdoor air quality in communities near U.S. Steel facilities in the Mon Valley.” The remaining funds were allocated to the the Jefferson Regional Foundation*, a grantmaker active in communities around AHN Jefferson Hospital, the nearest major health facility to Clairton.

The first round was disbursed last year to  projects including Valley Clean Air Now’s air purifier distribution and pollutant education program, a community garden project in Glassport and defibrillators for South Allegheny Fire EMS and Rescue.

The second round of grant applications is set to open from March 25 to May 25. 

Nathan Wetzel, manager of the ACED’s Housing Division, explained the application process and criteria for grant applicants. Highlights include:

• Funded projects must have a direct, tangible, positive impact on public health and welfare and/or air quality in the Mon Valley communities located near U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, Edgar Thomson Plant, and Irvin Plant.

• Applicants must be registered nonprofits. Schools and municipalities must partner with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

• Preference will be shown to “self-sustaining” programs with clear roadmaps for implementation.

Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Iulia Vann encouraged applicants to use Allegheny County’s environmental justice index map in place of the EPA Environmental Justice interactive database that was recently deactivated by the federal government.

At least one participant expressed concern that the settlement was insufficient to the harm caused by the fire.

Jay Ting Walker of the statewide advocacy group Clean Air Council asked the department what they will do to ensure citizens don’t view the settlement as “charity” from U.S. Steel, asking officials to consider changing the language on the website to reflect U.S. Steel’s “poisoning” of the community. 

ACED Director Lauren Connelly said in response that her department can “certainly revisit the history in the background that we include on our website about this fund” and ensure it addresses “how these funds got here and why they have to be used in this way, to repair.”

*Jefferson Regional Foundation provides funding to PublicSource.

Jake Vasilias is an editorial intern at PublicSource and can be reached at jake@publicsource.org.

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Update: Funds start to flow to communities from $4.5 million Clairton Coke Works fire settlement

by Jake Vasilias, Pittsburgh's Public Source
February 21, 2025

<h1>Update: Funds start to flow to communities from $4.5 million Clairton Coke Works fire settlement</h1> <p class="byline">by Jake Vasilias, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />February 21, 2025</p> <p>Money is finally making its way to the Mon Valley communities affected by an industrial fire that broke out nearly 7 years ago, releasing clouds of sulfur and other harmful pollutants.</p> <p>The Allegheny County Department of Economic Development [ACED] concluded its second of two town halls this week in McKeesport, gathering input and feedback on the distribution of the <a href="https://www.alleghenycounty.us/Projects-and-Initiatives/Economic-Development/Communities/Mon-Valley-Public-Health-and-Welfare-Funds">Mon Valley Public Health and Welfare Funds</a>.</p> <p>That fund was created from a $4.5 million <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/clairton-coke-works-fire-settlement-us-steel-allegheny-county-air-pollution/">settlement</a> between U.S. Steel, PennEnvironment and the Allegheny County Health Department following a 2018 fire at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works that severely impacted the air quality for residents in the Mon Valley.</p> <p>Half of the settlement money was set aside to be distributed through ACED over five years, for projects that “have a direct, tangible impact on public health and indoor/outdoor air quality in communities near U.S. Steel facilities in the Mon Valley.” The remaining funds were allocated to the the Jefferson Regional Foundation*, a grantmaker active in communities around AHN Jefferson Hospital, the nearest major health facility to Clairton.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.alleghenycounty.us/files/assets/county/v/1/government/economic-development/mvph-2024-awards.pdf">first round</a> was disbursed last year to&nbsp; projects including Valley Clean Air Now’s air purifier distribution and pollutant education program, a community garden project in Glassport and defibrillators for South Allegheny Fire EMS and Rescue.</p> <p>The second round of grant applications is set to open from March 25 to May 25.&nbsp;</p> <p>Nathan Wetzel, manager of the ACED’s Housing Division, explained the application process and criteria for grant applicants. Highlights include:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Funded projects must have a direct, tangible, positive impact on public health and welfare and/or air quality in the Mon Valley communities located near U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, Edgar Thomson Plant, and Irvin Plant.</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Applicants must be registered nonprofits. Schools and municipalities must partner with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Preference will be shown to “self-sustaining” programs with clear roadmaps for implementation.</li> </ul> <p>Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Iulia Vann encouraged applicants to use Allegheny County’s <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0d93bcfb456f4004a05271610eb0c3f2">environmental justice index map</a> in place of the EPA Environmental Justice interactive database that was recently deactivated by the federal government.</p> <p>At least one participant expressed concern that the settlement was insufficient to the harm caused by the fire.</p> <p>Jay Ting Walker of the statewide advocacy group Clean Air Council asked the department what they will do to ensure citizens don’t view the settlement as “charity” from U.S. Steel, asking officials to consider changing the language on the website to reflect U.S. Steel’s “poisoning” of the community. </p> <p>ACED Director Lauren Connelly said in response that her department can “certainly revisit the history in the background that we include on our website about this fund” and ensure it addresses “how these funds got here and why they have to be used in this way, to repair.”</p> <p><em>*Jefferson Regional Foundation provides funding to PublicSource.</em></p> <p><em>Jake Vasilias is an editorial intern at PublicSource and can be reached at <a href="mailto:jake@publicsource.org">jake@publicsource.org</a>.</em></p></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-monvalley-settlement-funds-pollution-ussteel-clairton/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1315970&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-monvalley-settlement-funds-pollution-ussteel-clairton/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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