Several past incidents reported at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works

Several past incidents reported at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works

Several past incidents reported at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works

The deadly explosions that happened Monday at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works facility come following several different incidents at the plant over the past several years, including one incident in February.

A flaring and fire at the Clairton plant in February sent two people to the hospital.

U.S. Steel said that a heating and cooling failure in one of the plant’s batteries resulted in a buildup of flammable materials that ignited and caused the boom.

Leaders called it a rare occurrence and the impacted battery was taken off line.

In February of 2024, there were process and equipment failures at seven of the facility’s ovens, prompting the health department to get involved, fining U.S. Steel nearly $2 million.

Bulldozers move coal near the United States Steel Corp. Clairton Coke Works facility in Clairton, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Two years earlier, the Allegheny County Health Department issued an order against U.S. Steel for pushing coke out of ovens without air pollution devices.

In 2018, a catastrophic Christmas Eve fire blamed a failing pipe that led to gas from the ovens igniting.

In 2010, at least 20 people were hurt when an explosion occurred during maintenance work.