Deadly Clairton, PA, Plant Blast Could Have Been Prevented, Feds Say

Joseph S. Pete

The Times, Munster, Ind.

(TNS)

A fatal explosion that killed two and injured more than 10 at a U.S. Steel plant in Pennsylvania "potentially could have been prevented," a federal investigator said.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has opened an investigation into the explosion involving coke gas that took place Monday when workers were preparing for a maintenance project at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works plant in Clairton, Pennsylvania.

Steelworkers Timothy "TQ" Quinn and Steven Menefee died of their injuries. Ten injured workers were sent to hospitals, including one who had to be pulled from rubble. Many more workers suffered injuries but were treated by paramedics at the scene.

“This is a very serious incident that fatally injured two people and put others at serious risk," U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Member Sylvia Johnson said. "It should not have happened and potentially could have been prevented.”

The independent federal agency investigates incidents involving the catastrophic release of hazardous substances. It makes safety recommendations, including to companies, industry groups, unions and regulatory agencies.

It conducts investigations that determine ways to mitigate such incidents and prevent them in the future. It will send a team to Clairton, the largest coking plant in North America with more than 1,300 employees. Part of the Mon Valley Works just outside Pittsburgh, the 392-acre plant turns coal into the coke that's used as a primary ingredient in steelmaking. It has supplied U.S. Steel's Northwest Indiana mills with coke since the coke batteries at Gary Works shut down in 2015.

The last death to take place at the Clairton Coke Works was in 2014 when a worker fell into a trench, according to the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

The Allegheny Health Department found multiple process and equipment failures at Clairton Coke Works over the last few years, for instance fining it more than $1.9 million for failing to capture emissions in baghouses. It exceeded local ambient air quality standards for 159 days in 2022 and 2023.

The coke batteries released a "significant spike" in hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide in June, according to the Allegheny Health Department.

The plant has not been in compliance with the Clean Air Act for the last three years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Integrity Project estimates it has been fined $10.6 million for air pollution over the last five years.

U.S. Steel said it was cooperating with local and federal investigations into what happened.

“The CSB will work to determine the cause of this tragic incident and identify actions that can be taken to help ensure that a similar disaster like this does not happen again," CSB Chairperson Steve Owens said.