Many in the Mon Valley still wondering what went wrong, following last week's announcement that U.S. Steel canceled a major investment to upgrade plants in Braddock, West MIfflin and Clairton.
Some blame Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and environmentalists in the county health department, saying they pushed U.S. Steel out.
Fitzgerald spoke to Marty Griffin Monday morning on NewsRadio KDKA.
"Quite frankly, we got blindisded by it. There was no call saying 'hey, the health department's not moving forward, can you kick 'em in the pants a little bit to get moving?', none of that ever occurred," said Fitzgerald. "I think that the health department's being used a little bit as a scapegoat."
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U.S. Steel announced the cancellation of a plan first put into motion two years ago for a rolling mill and cogeneration plant at the Mon Valley Works as well as a plans to close three batteries at the Clairton Coke Works.
The new brought reaction from Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman, who at the time said "It's a profoundly huge deal and this is a $1.5 billion investment and it would have created the greenest steel facility in the entire world. It's devastating. My heart is broken for the working men and women of the steel workers, and it's a sad day for the Mon Valley Works and the future of the Mon Valley Works. It's tragic."
Zachary Barber, clean air advocate for PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center released a statement following U.S. Steel's announcement saying "Permanently closing the three worst-polluting coke batteries at U.S. Steel’s Clairton plant will come as a huge breath of fresh air to residents in the Mon Valley and across the region.
“For too long, U.S. Steel has run roughshod over our environmental protections and churned out dangerous levels of harmful air pollution. Closing these batteries is a necessary and long-overdue step toward reducing that damage and cleaning our region’s air."
On Friday, Allegheny County Health Department’s (ACHD) Deputy Director of Environmental Health Jim Kelly issued a statement saying, “We are disappointed that there was a suggestion by US Steel that their decision was based in part on the ACHD’s permitting process. We worked closely with US Steel for an extensive period of time on this project, starting in May 2019. Certainly, COVID-19 had an impact on how all organizations operated. Neither the ACHD nor US Steel were an exception. But I can verify that we continued to work proactively to move this project along.