Team 4 Update: County Planning To Reduce Fine Particle Pollution

PITTSBURGH - THE PITTSBURGH CHANNEL.com

"The Air We Breathe" was the focus of a Team 4 investigation this week that exposed high levels of cancer-causing toxins in the air and local leaders' lack of a plan to do something about it.

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In an update, Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons reports that action is being taken on a different kind of air pollution.

The American Lung Association ranks the Pittsburgh region's air as the worst in the nation because of all the soot we breathe. The problem is particularly extreme in the Liberty/Clairton area.

On Wednesday, the Allegheny County Board of Health put some finishing touches on a plan to reduce the nation-high levels of fine particle pollution in our area.

Most of the reduction will come from U.S. Steel shutting down six batteries at its Clairton Coke Works, replacing them with new, high-tech batteries that emit lower levels of particulate matter.

"We recognize the hard work already done by the air quality program on this plan and the urgency in getting it approved, but we believe it is ultimately in the best interests of the residents of the Mon Valley to have the public comment period extended to 60 days," said Steve Hvozdovich, of

Clean Water Action

.

The Board of Health agreed and extended the public comment period on the plan from 30 days to 60 days.

It's part of a regulatory overhaul at the

Allegheny County Health Department

that has been promised by Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

"The clean air regulations are very important to us, like all the regulations in the health department," Onorato said on Aug. 13. "They're under review by the committee that I established. We're going to be releasing the recommendations from that committee real soon."

Last week, the county executive repeated that vow of a major announcement coming soon regarding clean air regulations at the health department.

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