2 new towers and upgrades for U.S. Steel Clairton plant
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U.S. Steel Corp. has agreed to build two additional low-emission quench towers and install better pollution controls on old Batteries 1, 2 and 3, previously scheduled for demolition, as part of an ongoing upgrade of its coke works in Clairton.
The changes in U.S. Steel's coke works construction plans are expected to reduce the operation's small particle soot emissions by an additional 320 tons a year and allow Allegheny County to meet federal air quality standards by December 2013, almost two years earlier than previously expected, according to Allegheny County Health Department Director Bruce Dixon.
The construction plan changes included a memorandum of understanding signed Tuesday by the Health Department. When finalized it will amend a 2008 consent order and agreements between the county and company that required the steelmaker to shut down six of its 12 coke batteries in Clairton by 2013. The company also planned to make improvements to other batteries and build one new low-emissions quench tower.
The Health Department said the additional emissions reductions will be achieved by building the two new quench towers and bringing Batteries 1, 2 and 3 Â-- built in 1955 -- into compliance with air quality standards.
"We agreed to allow them to operate Batteries 1, 2 and 3 as long as they're brought into compliance, and we expect them to be in compliance," said Guillermo Cole, a Health Department spokesman.
Erin DiPietro, a U.S. Steel spokeswoman, declined to elaborate on the construction changes, say how much the new quench towers will cost or say whether the company still plans to build Battery D, another new coke battery that was part of the original plans announced in June 2008.
She said the revised plans now include a total of three new low-emission quench towers. Two older quench towers will remain in operation.
The company originally put a $1.2 billion price tag on the project. It already has permanently shut down Batteries 7, 8 and 9 Â-- built in 1954 Â-- and started construction of Battery C, which will have fewer but bigger coke ovens and equal production capacity.
First Published August 20, 2010 12:00 am
