The U.S. Department of Justice has tapped federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh to review material from President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. U.S. Steel faces $2.7 million in fines over air pollution violations at Clairton Coke Works and must make $200 million worth of improvements to the facility. And, in an effort to reduce energy consumption, the City of Pittsburgh prepares to retrofit the 140 buildings it owns.
Helping explain the headlines this week from the WESA newsroom:
- An-Li Herring, reporter covering the justice system and county government
- Kathleen Davis, reporter covering air quality and sustainability
- Margaret J. Krauss, reporter covering development, transportation and infrastructure
The Allegheny County Health Department has reached a final settlement agreement and order with U.S. Steel over air pollution violations at the Clairton Coke Works, part of the larger Mon Valley Works system. The settlement was issued in June of 2019 to address ongoing emissions problems at the plant.
The final settlement requires U.S. Steel to pay $2.7 million in fines as well as make $200 million worth of improvements to the facility. But some Pennsylvania environmental groups aren't happy with the agreement.
In the third version of its Climate Action Plan, city officials pledged to halve energy and water consumption by 2030. The proposed change to the zoning code would require the city to prepare its buildings to be “net-zero energy ready.” Doing so would reduce energy consumption and lay the groundwork for buildings to eventually be powered by carbon-neutral technologies.
President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani gathered the information from Ukrainian sources, and claims that it involves the family of former Democratic vice president Joe Biden, according to The Washington Post. The newspaper reported Monday that the Justice Department will route the material to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
"In other news"
- From City Lab: Japan's Lost-and-Found System is Insanely Good
- From The New York Times: An Algorithm that Grants Freedom, or Takes it Away
- From The New York Times: Michael Bloomberg's Campaign Suddenly Drops Memes Everywhere
Pittsburgh Explainer is hosted by Liz Reid and produced by Katie Blackley. New episodes come out every Friday. Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify.
