Residents express health concerns after elevated sulfur levels reported at Clairton Coke Works

CBS News

04-06-2025

Elevated sulfur levels reported at the Clairton Coke Works plant this week have some residents concerned for their health.
It comes after the Allegheny County Health Department said repairs were being done inside the plant.
The reports indicate there were elevated sulfur levels in coke oven gas while repairs took place within a control room. The incident occurred on June 2 at 7:08 p.m., and it was reported that all equipment was back online on June 3 at 3:05 a.m.
The preliminary report notes that during the breakdown, control room five was shut down and bypassed, meaning that coke oven gas was only partially treated by control rooms one and two.
Control room five removes harmful chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from the gas.
U.S. Steel has seven days to submit a full report explaining what happened, the Allegheny County Health Department said in a statement.
Some residents told KDKA-TV that they're fed up after the latest breakdown at the plant.
"It's dangerous. It's toxic and it should be eliminated," said Felix Major, a former Clairton Coke Works plant employee.
"A lot of times you can't breathe," Robert Ebo said, a Clairton resident.
"And the smell. The smell early in the morning when you're going to work, it smells like poop," Wilhelmina Phillips said, another Clairton resident.
According to the ACHD, the breakdown caused a significant spike in hydrogen sulfide levels in coke oven gas. During the breakdown, a spokesperson said hydrogen sulfide levels measured 32 parts per billion.
"For H2S, the ability to smell it and the state regulatory level is 5 ppb. Allegheny County is normally below 1 ppb. The highest hourly sulfur dioxide concentration during the breakdown was 47 ppb on June 2 at 10:00 p.m.," the ACHD said in a statement.
"Down on State Street where the mill is, you can smell it all the way up here on top of the hill here, yeah, that's how it moves," Major said.
"It smells like sulfur. That's exactly what it smells like, sulfur in the air," Phillips said.
Phillips said she moved to Clairton 3 ½ years ago from North Carolina and quickly noticed a difference in her health.
"I got to wake up in the middle of the night, [and] put Vicks under my nose. I take an inhaler now, and I never had problems with breathing until I moved here to Clairton," Phillips said.
Robert Ebo told KDKA-TV that he suffered from COPD. He said he stays inside when the air is polluted.
"I think that what they need to do is just get a better handle on things down there than what it really is," Ebo said. "Because they got the money to pay the fines, the billion-dollar company, and they just overlook that. We're the little man."
U.S. Steel sent KDKA-TV a statement saying they've been back to normal operation since early Tuesday morning.
"U.S. Steel followed all response protocols to ensure the safety of its employees and the community. The Allegheny County Health Department was notified, in accordance with our operating permit," U.S Steel said.