Pittsburgh's air quality has improved dramatically in the last 7 years

[FakeNoose]

Last edited Thu Aug 10, 2023, 12:55 PM - Edit history (1)

(Link) https://www.alleghenyfront.org/er-visits-plummet-after-shenango-coke-works-neville-island/

Note: This is about the closing of the Shenango Coke Works on Neville Island in 2016. The Clairton Coke Works plant is still operating and still polluting our air.

The closure of a Pittsburgh area coke plant resulted in dramatic decreases in local air pollution and fewer emergency room visits, a new study has found. The Shenango Coke Works on Neville Island closed in 2016.

For researchers at New York University, it was an opportunity to see if reduced air pollution resulting from the closure could mean improved health for people living close by. “It was a natural experiment,” said Wuyue Yu, an NYU Ph.D. student who was one of the study co-authors. “The only factor that has changed in their life is the closure of this complex.”

The result was clear. The researchers found a 90 percent drop in sulfur pollution near the plant and an immediate 42 percent decrease in emergency room visits for cardiovascular disease among nearby residents. And over three years, those ER visits dropped even further – 61 percent compared with past years.

- snip -

Coke is a key component in steelmaking. It’s made by baking coal at high temperatures. It produces a toxic mix of sulfurous gases and particle pollution, and carcinogenic air pollutants like benzene that seep out of coke plants into the broader community. The Shenango plant was closed by DTE Energy after years of protest from neighboring communities. Among those who fought it was Angelo Taranto, who co-founded Allegheny County Clean Air Now.

- more at link -

There was a time when the city of Pittsburgh was so polluted that you couldn't see the sun during the daytime. Those days are long gone, and the steel mills have mostly closed within Allegheny County. We're getting our clear air back, and the rivers are for the most part unpolluted. It has been a long road and many jobs are gone forever - but our environment is healthier now.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. When the wind blows in the wrong direction, the air stinks of thiophenol and pyridine ...

... this from someone who has used both in the lab and knows those smells.

[FakeNoose]

2. Yes we still have air pollution, and the Canadian fires aren't helping

[BlueIn_W_Pa]

3. I hadn't seen this, thank you!

Things are sooo much better! I used to watch the barges slide into the river from Neville back in the day.

We shouldn't even be considered in the "rust" belt anymore. The city has transformed itself into something altogether different from the other cities.

[Earl_from_PA]

4. The lion's share of the credit

Goes to Richard Caliguiri and Sophie Masloff.
The Renaissance II program transformed the city.