Your article “How residents grapple with life in the shadows of U.S. Steel’s Clairton Plant” (June 15, TribLIVE) appears incomplete in several respects.

First, Clairton supplies almost all of the coke to U.S. Steel’s operations in the U.S. If shut, U.S. Steel would need to import coke to operate and survive and probably import it from China or Russia. Such would not be ideal.

Second, the April 2019 proposal to build a cogeneration electricity plant from Clairton gas products significantly upgrades the environment in collecting pollutants, incinerating them in a contained environment and generating low-cost electricity for the public’s or the company’s use.

Your comments about public health are correct. The Christmas Eve fire caused harm. It cannot be dismissed or excused as a freak event. Over the past decades, U.S. Steel has continuously rebuilt the Clairton coke batteries attempting to control leaks, and federal and state agencies do their job to monitor them. The fines that you referenced communicate and document enforcement actions.

Yours truly is an investment analyst specializing in steel and other manufacturing industries. I have no economic interest in U.S. Steel. However, my father worked 27 years at U.S. Steel Homestead Works, and I grew up nearby. My sister with asthma living in Freedom observes air quality.

John C. Tumazos

Holmdel, N.J.

The writer is owner and CEO of John Tumazos Very Independent Research.

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