Health Dept Monitors Air Quality From Coke Oven Blast

The Allegheny County Health Department says it's investigating the effects of today’s explosion at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works.
Director Dr. Bruce Dixon says because of the department's routine oversight of operations at the facility, a health inspector was at the plant at the time of the explosion.“
“While the incident produced a black cloud, these emissions resulted in no long-lasting effects to the environment or to the health of residents in the Liberty-Clairton area.”
None of the Health Department’s three monitors nearby in Liberty, Lincoln or Glassport showed any unusually high readings associated with the explosion."

Dixon says Health Department staff will continue to stay on-site as long as necessary to ensure the public’s health and safety as well as the area’s environmental integrity.
The incident occurred in the Battery B of the plant which is its largest section and is composed of 75 coke ovens.
U.S. Steel Clairton is the largest coke manufacturing facility in the United States producing 4.7 million tons of coke each year to be used in the steelmaking process.