Environmental justice communities in southwestern Pennsylvania face higher rates of pollution violations
PITTSBURGH — Around 13% of industrial facilities in Allegheny County’s environmental justice communities regularly violate federal clean air or clean water laws compared to just 3% of facilities in non-environmental justice areas, according to a recent study.
The research, conducted by researchers at Chatham University and Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a nonprofit clean water advocacy group, focused on Clairton and Homewood — two neighborhoods identified as environmental justice communities by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA uses environmental, health, social and economic indicators to identify environmental justice communities, which are typically low-income communities of color subject to numerous pollution sources.
Clairton has a poverty rate of 23% and is 40% Black, and Homewood, which is 90% Black, has an overall poverty rate of 6% but rates as high as 41% in some sections. For comparison, Allegheny County, which encompasses both neighborhoods and Pittsburgh, has a poverty rate of 11% and is 14% Black. Clairton is home to U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, the nation’s largest producer of coke, a key ingredient in steelmaking that results in highly toxic emissions, while Homewood is home to many small manufacturing and commercial facilities.
For the study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, the researchers looked at violations of the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts from January 2019 to April 2024.
“We found that these two environmental justice communities not only have more facilities that are noncompliant with federal regulations, but also that historic noncompliance was a strong predictor for current noncompliance,” Matt Oriente, a graduate student at Chatham’s Falk School of Sustainability who led the research, told EHN. “This is important for regulators to know.”
Oriente and his co-authors found that of the 17 noncompliant facilities identified in Clairton and Homewood, only three had faced penalties.
“We think it’s concerning that environmental justice communities in this region not only have more facilities that are more noncompliant with legislation, but also that they’re not being held accountable for that noncompliance,” Heather Hulton VanTassel, a co-author of the study and executive director of Three Rivers Waterkeeper, told EHN. “If there are no financial repercussions for breaking the law, there’s no incentive to invest in the measures needed to stop breaking the law.”
VanTassel noted that these violations are self-reported by facilities and don’t always account for the duration or severity of pollution events, so they likely underestimate the problem. She said it’s helpful to have data when asking regulators for stronger enforcement to deter polluters even though residents and community advocates have long suspected facilities in these environmental justice communities were polluting more and facing fewer enforcement actions.
“I don’t think regulators at [the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection] are doing this intentionally,” VanTassel said. “I think they need more funding and more political will to be able to address this important issue and take steps to better protect the most vulnerable communities in our region.”
PITTSBURGH — Around 13% of industrial facilities in Allegheny County’s environmental justice communities regularly violate federal clean air or clean water laws compared to just 3% of facilities in non-environmental justice areas, according to a recent study.
The research, conducted by researchers at Chatham University and Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a nonprofit clean water advocacy group, focused on Clairton and Homewood — two neighborhoods identified as environmental justice communities by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA uses environmental, health, social and economic indicators to identify environmental justice communities, which are typically low-income communities of color subject to numerous pollution sources.
Clairton has a poverty rate of 23% and is 40% Black, and Homewood, which is 90% Black, has an overall poverty rate of 6% but rates as high as 41% in some sections. For comparison, Allegheny County, which encompasses both neighborhoods and Pittsburgh, has a poverty rate of 11% and is 14% Black. Clairton is home to U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, the nation’s largest producer of coke, a key ingredient in steelmaking that results in highly toxic emissions, while Homewood is home to many small manufacturing and commercial facilities.
For the study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, the researchers looked at violations of the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts from January 2019 to April 2024.
“We found that these two environmental justice communities not only have more facilities that are noncompliant with federal regulations, but also that historic noncompliance was a strong predictor for current noncompliance,” Matt Oriente, a graduate student at Chatham’s Falk School of Sustainability who led the research, told EHN. “This is important for regulators to know.”
Oriente and his co-authors found that of the 17 noncompliant facilities identified in Clairton and Homewood, only three had faced penalties.
“We think it’s concerning that environmental justice communities in this region not only have more facilities that are more noncompliant with legislation, but also that they’re not being held accountable for that noncompliance,” Heather Hulton VanTassel, a co-author of the study and executive director of Three Rivers Waterkeeper, told EHN. “If there are no financial repercussions for breaking the law, there’s no incentive to invest in the measures needed to stop breaking the law.”
VanTassel noted that these violations are self-reported by facilities and don’t always account for the duration or severity of pollution events, so they likely underestimate the problem. She said it’s helpful to have data when asking regulators for stronger enforcement to deter polluters even though residents and community advocates have long suspected facilities in these environmental justice communities were polluting more and facing fewer enforcement actions.
“I don’t think regulators at [the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection] are doing this intentionally,” VanTassel said. “I think they need more funding and more political will to be able to address this important issue and take steps to better protect the most vulnerable communities in our region.”
