In the aftermath of an explosion at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works that injured 20 workers in July 2010, the Allegheny County emergency management chief was grateful it hadn’t been worse. “By the grace of God, nobody’s dead,” Robert A. Full said. “It’s a miracle no one was killed.”
The 2010 accident—which prompted multiple lawsuits against the company and left one worker with burns over 40 percent of his body and permanent disfigurement—is part of a troubling pattern at the 125-year-old Coke Works.
It was followed by a catastrophic fire in 2018, an explosion in February that injured two workers and, just this Monday, an explosion that killed two and injured at least 10. After touring Clairton in 2017, a county health official called it “one of the most decrepit facilities I’ve ever seen in my nearly 30 years of work.”
Environmental advocates say the company’s attitude toward maintenance is also reflected in longstanding pollution problems at the plant, which processes coal to make coke, a concentrated derivative that fuels steel manufacturing. In the last five years, U.S. Steel has paid more than $10 million in penalties for violations of the Clean Air Act at Clairton. The 2018 fire, which took down key pollution controls at the plant, resulted in a $42 million settlement for violations of that law.
A devoted dad has been identified as one of the two steel workers killed in an explosion at a Pennsylvania plant on Monday, the governor said.
The incident at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works plant in Clairton, about 15 miles outside of Pittsburgh, trapped people under rubble, prompting a rescue operation, according to Allegheny County officials.
Ten people were injured from the blast inside a battery operating area at the plant, officials said. At least five of the injured have been released from the hospital, according to officials.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he met on Tuesday with the sister and girlfriend of Timothy Quinn, one of the employees killed.
Quinn, who went by “TQ,” was a second-generation steel worker, Shapiro said at a news conference. He was a devoted father of three and served as a mentor to his coworkers, Shapiro said.
I think we know what happened. They let air into the hot part of the process which supposed to be air free. Was it poor maintenance or failure due to corrosion etc?
In the future they tell us steel will be made with hydrogen instead of coke. The coke makes carbon oxides. Ancient technology. End of cycle.
Use of hydrogen is in trials. Cost of hydrogen is an issue. If global warming is the issue hydrogen is the likely solution. Alternative would be capture of carbon emissions—mostly carbon monoxide they say. When Nippon plans to invest in modernization coke replacement is a likely priority. Depending on govt priorities at the time.