The Unity Group of Clairton knows the Aug. 11 U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works explosion and fire shook city residents to their core. The blast reverberated in their homes and other buildings, and dealing with its aftermath has been difficult.
So this Saturday group leaders will hold an informational dinner for them to address the trauma associated with it that claimed the lives of two workers and injured 10 others. Attendees will learn more about safety procedures in place at the plant and city should another emergency arise, too.
More than 320 residents of Clairton and surrounding communities are scheduled to attend and hear from U.S. Steel management, city and Allegheny County emergency management and medical services, disaster recovery agencies, and nonprofit environmental groups, according to a news release about the Moving Forward Toward Healthy Living dinner. It will be held at the Georgetown Centre in Pleasant Hills from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The group received funding from the Jefferson Regional Foundation’s Mon Valley Clean Air Fund to offer it. Last year the Allegheny County Health Department enlisted the foundation to distribute half or $2.25 million of the $4.5 million settlement funds stemming from a fire at the Clairton Coke Works in 2018 that knocked out pollution controls at the plant for months and impacted air quality and public health in 22 communities, according to its website. It led to litigation brought by PennEnvironment, Clean Air Council and the Allegheny County Health Department against U.S. Steel. The foundation started distributing the grants this year. The Heinz Endowments also is a sponsor of Saturday’s dinner.
The Unity Group of Clairton is a nonprofit formed in 2009 by current CEO Richard Ford III, Joyce Hammons, the late Margie Davis and Pauline Callaway Long. It created a partnership of several organizations working together to address problems and issues that cannot effectively be addressed by any one entity, according to the release. Board representatives include representatives from the city, Clairton City School District, each Clairton church, Mon Yough Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Community Economic Development Corporation of Clairton.
In the release the group noted that U.S. Steel has had facilities at the Clairton Coke Works and the Mon Valley region for over 110 years, “providing jobs and security for many families.” Nippon Steel finalized its nearly $15 billion buyout of the American steelmaker in July in what it called a “historic partnership,” a deal that gives the U.S. government a say in some matters and comes a year-and-a-half after the Japanese company first proposed the acquisition.
The U.S. Steel site has a list of questions and answers regarding with the coke plant explosion and fire and air quality in the city and area.
The organizers believe that traumatic experiences can have lasting effects on health. “One way of dealing with the stress of a traumatic incident is to talk about the experience and process emotions and fears spiritually and with concrete facts about safety and health,” they wrote in the release.
So they asked invited speakers to provide timely and accurate information at the dinner. “We believe the more citizens know about the future of the USS Coke Works plant, disaster preparedness [evacuation procedures] and other health-related and safety resources, it will help dispel fear and aid in healing after this tragic event,” they wrote in the invitation letter.
Clairton Mayor Richard Lattanzi will offer a welcome, and Ford and Long will give opening remarks, too. Scheduled speakers on the main topic include U.S. Steel Vice President of Mon Valley Works Kurt Barshick, Allegheny County Health Department Air Quality Monitoring Program Manager David Good and Community Engagement Specialist Michaela Avino, Valley Clean Air Now Executive Director Qiyam Ansari, Allegheny County Emergency Medical Services Chief Mathew Brown, Comprehensive Environmental Service Training Inc. Director Patrick Thornton of Clairton, and Southeast Regional Emergency Service Assistant Chief Mike Horgos and Chief Doug Pascoe. 1 HOOD Media CEO and co-founder Jasiri X will address community empowerment near the program’s end.
Long said her group also will acknowledge the support from two nonprofits who came to Clairton residents’ and U.S. Steel employees’ aid, the Salvation Army of Western Pennsylvania and Women for a Healthy Environment.
Special recognition will be paid, too, to Clairton volunteer fire Chief Joe Lazur and Assistant Chief Drew Martin, who is also chief of the U.S. Steel Coke Works Fire Department.
Nonprofit agencies will present information about resources they manage for healthy remedies to the environmental distress centered on local industries.
Long said the Unity Group’s treasurer Hammons came up with the idea for the dinner after members suggested about six different possibilities to reach residents. They settled on the dinner, and the group applied for the grant immediately to make it happen.
“The first thing that hit me was we are all traumatized,” she said. “This is bad, but it could have been worse.”
So the idea expanded to include what would make residents feel safer, and the dinner program and invited speakers list evolved from there.
They first reached out to Clairton churches to send up to 20 members to the dinner, then extended an invitation to Clairton residents. They expanded the invitation to include Jefferson Hills, Glassport, West Mifflin, Braddock and other residents.
She said those attending will have an opportunity to ask questions by writing them on cards provided that night. The Unity Group will follow up as quickly and completely as they can and send back answers.
The response has left her “overly pleased,” and Long has had to turn people away this week because of the venue and event capacity. “I think people are started to get excited about it,” she said.
What Long and her group wants residents to know is “there are systems in place that will protect you.”
For example, Thornton is in charge of the city’s evacuation plan in case of a coke works emergency, which is 564 pages long, she said. He is currently in process of upgrading it, Long added, and training will follow. She said every business and church in the city should have its own plan, too, if everyone needs to leave structures immediately.
Through planning the dinner Long also said she learned how important the Clairton fire and police departments are in responding to mill emergencies. She especially pointed to Martin, “who made everything work,” and Clairton police Chief Robert Hoffman.
Long and others in the community have economic and civic ties to the coke plant and U.S. Steel. She started working at the Clairton plant as a clerk one summer, and after graduation from the University of Pittsburgh and teaching high school English in Wilkinsburg she worked for U.S. Steel in a number of business and accounting management positions. In addition to Clairton, she worked at the Irvin Works, Homestead and Duluth, Minnesota, plants and its South Side Service center. She retired with 30 years of service in 2007 and has been working with nonprofit organizations, consulting, and teaching high school and university classes part time ever since.
She’s grateful that her work there helped her earn master’s and doctorate degrees, and her employment included training other employees in a variety of areas.
Long said she returned to working with the Unity Group three years ago, mainly on its communication efforts. One project she wanted to complete before the dinner was a resource booklet for residents but ran out of time. The group does plan to offer some handouts for attendees.
Once this dinner is past, Long said the group will work on capacity building and seek more residents – especially younger ones – to join it. It has consistently offered activities that include an annual 5K Run and Walk, a Community Day, clothing giveaways, and rides to the election polling sites. In the past it has loaned tools to residents and sponsored community gardens. Community workshops and listening sessions could be scheduled in the near future, including another session with U.S. Steel representatives, and the Unity Group will start seeking grants and support to make those possible.
The organization originally started with goals of bringing a grocery store and a recreation center to Clairton. Now it wants to become stronger and build stability. To that end, Long said the Unity Group will focus on economic development, working with Pitt and other organizations.
“We are moving ahead as a Unity Group,” she said. “We are working to get stronger.”
Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Contact her at hfallon@unionprogress.com.