ShenangoCokePlant

BACKGROUND

The Allegheny County Health Department issued a $252,000 fine and official order against Shenango, Inc. on July 22, 2005, for 113 violations with oven-doors, off-takes, pushing, and opacity that occurred from April 1 to June 30, 2005 at their Neville Island coke-making facility. Read more about the fine in the Post-Gazette & Tribune-Review. Citizens’ observations of Shenango originally spurred ACHD to investigate these problems at the facility. During the settlement process for the fine, Shenango paid $200,000 to ACHD for its violations and signed an official agreement dictating the company's operations.

Members of Clean Water Action and the Neville Island Good Neighbor Committee that have trained alongside ACHD inspectors to become Certified Visible Emissions Evaluators noticed an increase in opacity violations at Shenango’s combustion stack in early 2005. Other members that were regularly observing the plant captured multiple violations from the battery on digital video and film. Residents could barely see Shenango from across the river on June 28, 2005, the day of the Good Neighbor Committee's press conference which drew attention to the problems at the plant. Click here for more about the press conference.

In December 2003, the compliance rates for most parts of Shenango’s plant were almost 100%. When local citizens reported a drop in the plant’s performance in March 2005, ACHD responded by significantly increasing inspections of Shenango. In April, ACHD found the combustion stack in-compliance only 40% of the time; pushes only 35%; and doors on the coke ovens only 13.5%. While some parts of the plant showed slight improvements in May, the off-takes at the plant dropped from 80% compliance to 11% in May. Because of budget cuts last year in Allegheny County, ACHD’s Air Quality Program lost one of two coke-oven inspectors and is not adequately staffed for the frequent inspections needed at the County’s coke-making facilities.

ACHD plans to take further enforcement action for violations they observed since June. The Good Neighbor Committee plans to hold a public meeting with Shenango and ACHD in the new year to follow up on the company's progress.