Groups say Nippon Steel investments will perpetuate coal and air pollution in the Mon Valley

Environmental groups are criticizing Nippon Steel’s recent investments in its Pittsburgh-area U.S. Steel mills for continuing the company’s reliance on coal to produce steel. As a result, they say, the region’s air quality is unlikely to improve.

Nippon Steel recently announced it would replace a nearly 90-year-old hot strip mill at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in West Mifflin with a brand new hot strip mill at Edgar Thomson Works in nearby Braddock. The company says it’s targeting 2029 for the startup.

The new mill will take steel slabs it currently produces at Edgar Thomson Works and make flat-rolled products, like the kind used by the auto industry.

Nippon said the project, part of a $2.5 billion investment in the Mon Valley, would produce more steel with fewer emissions, including particulate matter, which is linked to heart and lung diseases.

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