American Lung Association Gives Pittsburgh Failing Grade For Poor Air Quality

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A new report on air quality says the Pittsburgh area is among the worst in the country.

The American Lung Association's annual "State of the Air" report found the air quality in the Pittsburgh metro area actually got worse for both ozone/smog and particle pollution.

They've given the area an "F" grade.

According to the report, Allegheny County remains the only county in the United States, outside of the state of California, to get failing grades for its high air pollution.

Across the state, Philadelphia got an "F" for a high number of Ozone Days.

To stop it, environmental advocates are encouraging Pittsburghers to begin putting pressure on companies that are causing the air quality issues.

Matt Mehalik heads a coalition of groups who are trying to clean up our air.

"In Allegheny County, our air generally is rated not good more than half the time. In the Greater Pittsburgh area that includes some other counties, it's actually 69% of the time the air is rated not good," he said.

Mehalik says 60% of our pollution is from industrial sources.

"We have still a lot of legacy industry here in Pittsburgh that uses coal as part of the combustion process," he said.

The problem dramatically plays out at the Clairton Coke plant, where pollution violations prompted $2.5 million in fines last year. Then, a Christmas Eve fire destroyed their pollution controls.

It's pollution that's being blamed for serious health risks.

"Allegheny County's rated in the top 2% of counties for cancer risk, and a lot of that is because of background levels of air pollution that we experience daily," Mehalik said.

Some industry leaders argue that too many environmental controls are bad for the economy and eliminate jobs, but environmental groups argue that these reports hurt the economy because it means enormous health care costs and discourages people and businesses from moving here.

To view the full "State of the Air 2019" report, visit this link.

And, click here to read Allegheny County's Report Card.