United States Steel Corp. unveiled a battery-powered locomotive on Monday as part of its ongoing effort to clean up operations in the Mon Valley.
The electric train, funded partially by the Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection and built by Innovative Rail Technologies, was converted from a used diesel model built in the 1960s. It will be used to transport steel, coke, scrap metal and iron ore around U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works. A second unit will be built for the company’s Edgar Thomson mill in Braddock.
The switcher trains operate at relatively slow speeds as a sort of on-site workhorse.
Innovative Rail developed the battery-powered version for use across industries, with its first tourist application coming next year. It has also built locomotives for the largest U.S. steelmaker, Nucor Corporation, based in North Carolina.
“The battery-powered locomotive reduces diesel fuel, reduces [fine particulate matter] and also reduces greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to over 7,000 passenger vehicles,” Clairton plant Manager Mark Jeffrey said at a Monday unveiling. “The project represents a significant step towards air pollution reduction, reinforces our commitment to environmental excellence, and creates a model for other industries.”
U.S. Steel has faced scrutiny for poor air quality in the Pittsburgh region. It was fined more than $600,000 for pollution violations this year by the Allegheny County Department of Health. Last year, it paid the department $4.5 million in fines for emissions violations.
In March, it closed Clairton’s three oldest coke batteries. The company said it plans to be zero emission by 2050. In a TVpromoting its new trains, U.S. Steel said Pittsburgh’s air quality is 80% better than it was 10 years ago, citing Health Department data.
A Department of Environmental Protection official said the Shapiro administration is “fully supportive of U.S. Steel’s initiative to upgrade part of its locomotive fleet.”
The “DEP supports the project and applauds U.S. Steel for its commitment to replacing diesel locomotives,” DEP Press Secretary Josslyn Howard said in an email to the Post-Gazette. “Reducing diesel emissions in and around ports, intermodal facilities, railyards, and distribution centers is one of the top priorities of the Driving PA Forward Initiative, as these types of facilities emit large quantities of harmful air pollution, and many are co-located alongside environmental justice areas, some of the most disproportionately impacted communities in Pennsylvania.
“This project will improve air quality where people live, work, and play in and around the environmental justice areas of Clairton City, Braddock Borough and beyond.”
State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, in a speech at the Monday unveiling, praised the quality of Clairton’s product and its workers and pledged to support the company until his last breath. He also questioned why environmental groups who have spoken out against U.S. Steel weren’t present.
“I find it awfully interesting that we’re here complying with what I think are some of their environmental concerns but they’re not here,” he said. “Some of our folks who don’t appreciate our industry don’t see progress.”
One such group, the Breathe Project, said it wasn’t invited.
“We certainly welcome any reduction in pollution that battery-operated locomotives will provide,” Debra Smit, director of communications, said in an email. “It would be even better if U.S. Steel were to take a more far-reaching step and do what needs to be done to reduce pollution levels at the U.S. Steel Plants in the Mon Valley.”
At the event, Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco, R-at large, praised the economic benefits of U.S. Steel’s presence in the valley and said its workers continue to deliver a quality product “while protecting our shared environment.”
David Burritt, CEO of U.S. Steel, said his company is currently enjoying the highest stock value in the entire industry, the result of a bidding war that emerged in August. He did not describe what a potential sale of the company or Mon Valley operations would mean for workers or the new locomotive technology. He called the train “a great example of what the future can look like.”
“When you have reduced emissions, reduced fuel consumption, and also even reduced sound with this innovative technology, it really says volumes about what what we’re doing as a company,” Burritt said.
