Environmental Group Calls on Onorato to Keep His Promises

Ohio River Valley residents say Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has not kept his word. 

Julie St. Jude of Clean Water Action said Onorato pledged a year and a half ago to tour communities near Neville Island, and to hear their concerns about pollution from industries there.  

Area residents on Wednesday went to the county courthouse steps in downtown Pittsburgh, where they asked the public to urge Onorato to honor that pledge and to  in the county.

St. Jude said her community group has delivered letters and left phone messages for Onorato, but he has not responded.

“So this is our next step, getting folks on the street aware of what's going on and asking them to call Onorato, tell him what they want to see,” she said.

Ted Popovich, of Ben Avon, said residents need to be paying more attention to air quality.  

“Most other people see it as, ‘Well, it's a lot better than it used to be.’  You can't see it, you can't smell it so much anymore -- but it's still there,” Popovich said.

Popovich cited other pollution hot spots, including Clairton, and the  area, which is downwind from the Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant.

“It goes up there [in] those nice tall stacks; it just sort of drops down on a whole bunch of us,” he said.

“[Pollution] goes across party lines, it goes across economic lines; everybody gets to take it in.”

Neville Island is home to a high concentration of industry. 

According to Clean Water Action, Shenango Inc., located on the island, was fined $114,000 by the Allegheny County Health Department in August for air pollution violations. 

Since the beginning of 2011, 114 violations have been filed against the industry.

According to St. Jude, a recent report shows that Northgate School District, in Bellevue and Avalon, has the highest rate of asthma in the county at 37.6 percent. It is also the highest rate in Western Pennsylvania.  

St. Jude said she hopes new Air Toxins Guidelines legislation will address those concerns. 

A committee was formed to update those guidelines, which are more than 20 years old, and rely on outdated science, St. Jude said. The committee was convened last year by Onorato.  

Adam Tuznik, of Pittsburgh, was handed a flier while riding past the courthouse on his bicycle.  As a former resident of Bellevue, he said he had been paying attention to this issue. He pulled out his cellphone and left a message with Onorato’s staff.

“He’s got to do something about the air quality,” Tuznik said.  “It’s the second worst in the county behind Los Angeles, and that’s not good enough for me.”