Over the past few months, GASP has collected hundreds of signatures for our petition urging the Allegheny County Health Department to take action to achieve the hydrogen sulfide standard.
For those who might be unfamiliar: Hydrogen sulfide—or H2S—is a colorless, flammable gas with a distinct rotten-egg odor. Coke-making is a primary source of hydrogen sulfide in the county, where U.S. Steel is the largest emitter.
More than a year ago, ACHD committed to revising the county’s coke-oven regulations as a way to reduce H2S, but to date those revisions have not gone out for public comment.
GASP will soon be presenting our petition to ACHD (more on that soon!), and renewing our call for both achieving the H2S standard (which is violated about 50 times a year on average) AND strengthening coke-oven regulations.
In the meantime, we need your help spreading the word: We’ll be closing our petition soon, so if you haven’t signed it, please do! If you already affixed your signature, please consider sharing it with like-minded friends via email or social media.