The Allegheny County Health Department and the United States Steel recently finalized their consent decree for violations of the Clean Air Act and the terms of the resulting Community Benefit Trust.
The communities of the Monongahela Valley of Southwestern Pennsylvania who are impacted by the settlement have been long awaiting any information about the environmental trust. To provide better access to these funds, I have reviewed the terms of the environmental trust carefully and broken down its important facets as follows:
The Environmental Trust will be administered by the Smithfield Trust Company.
The beneficiaries will be the Adjacent Communities of Clairton, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln, and Port Vue. (These happen to be the same communities which were included in the proposed settlement agreement for a class-action lawsuit late last year).
Each adjacent community will receive a proportion of the initial $2,459,253 deposit (minus $150,000 set aside for trust administration fees) and any subsequent deposits into the trust:
Distributions from the environmental trust will be made by a Trust Distribution Board made up of 1 member from each of the adjacent communities.
The Member (and an alternate) can be picked any way as determined by the community.
The Adjacent Communities get to determine what projects will be presented to the Board for consideration.
The projects must be anticipated “to improve, protect, or reduce the risk to public health or the environment. Such projects may include improving physical community infrastructure (such as the creation or renovation of parks, green spaces, and playground spaces), or fostering the creation or expansion of programs that are aimed at directly improving the well-being of residents, and need not be air-quality related, as long as the environmental or public health benefit can be recognized.
The Board will meet at least every 6 months to discuss proposed projects and vote on approval.
Adjacent Communities can agree to work jointly on projects.
Below you will find a downloadable version of both the Community Benefit Trust Document (with our highlights) and the full settlement agreement:
How to get involved:
Right now, it is still unclear exactly how one might become a board member. If you are interested in becoming a board member it would be a good idea to reach out to your local elected officials to express interest in representing your community. Community members should be active at their town meetings in the coming months and years to ensure that their voice is heard in regard to the types and locations of projects that their communities need.
As always, feel free to reach out to our offices if you have any questions about the settlement and your role in defending your environment. You can also go to our Contact Us page to submit an inquiry online.
