Residents sought to help monitor pollution

Protect PT will provide air monitors to anyone living near the Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill or the Monessen coke plant.

An environmental nonprofit is seeking residents who live near the Monessen coke plant or Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill to host air monitors used to detect pollution on their properties.

Protect PT, a Penn Township- based environmental organization, will host an informational session in which it identifies types of pollution that could possibly emanate from the landfill or coke plant and their health effects. It will take place at Monessen Public Library at 5:30 p.m. July 30.

The public session is part of the organization’s EPA-funded study, “Clean Air for All,” which focuses on communities surrounding the Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill, the Monessen coke plant and the Plum injection well.

As part of the study, Protect PT intends to set up four monitoring sites around the landfill and coke plant. The monitoring sites will be set up for about two years. The organization will utilize a couple different types of air monitors that detect emissions, including volatile organic compounds, which cause various health problems.

“We will be able to see what types of chemicals people are being exposed to with this specialized equipment,” Project PT Executive Director Gillian Graber said in a statement. “We feel that no matter where people live, they should have the right to clean air.”

Graber said the Pennsylvania DEP has failed the residents of Rostraver Township by allowing high levels of pollution in the area for more than a decade.

Westmoreland Sanitary landfill has been fined a few times by the DEP in recent years, including in November 2023 for violating the state Solid Waste Management Act and Clean Streams Law.

Monessen Mayor Ron Mozer believes Cleveland-Cliffs, which operates the Monessen coke plant, is an environmentally responsible company.

“The manager of that plant lives in this area,” Mozer said. “He wants it to be a safe place for his grandchildren. He has all kinds of monitors around there. And he has agreements with the DEP that if they ever exceed the level on any one of the particular monitors, there’s different fines that kick in, and they kick in very quickly and with a lot of punch. He wants to avoid that at all costs.” Residents who participate in the study will receive reports every three months about data collected from the air monitors, which require access to Wi-Fi and an electrical outlet. According to Protect PT, the information could possibly support residents who voice their concerns to community leaders and health care providers.

“We are conducting these studies in response to ongoing resident concerns about how air pollution is impacting their health. In order to address those concerns, we now need the participation of the community,” Yvonne Sorovacu, Protect PT environmental scientist, said in a statement.

To participate in Protect PT’s study, go to https:// www.protectpt.org.

Cleveland-Cliffs, the Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill and its parent company, Noble Environmental, did not respond to multiple requests for comment prior to press time.