At certain times of the year, residents across Allegheny County notice a sulfurous, “rotten egg” smell drifting through their neighborhoods. It’s a familiar, unpleasant reminder of a hard truth: the region’s air pollution problem, from the process of steelmaking, has never really gone away.
For decades, one argument that has resurfaced is that without the steel mills, the Mon Valley economy will collapse. It’s an understandable fear. The steel mills have anchored generations of local jobs and identity. But that legacy has also created a perception of economic dependence that stands in the way of progress.
Patty DeMarco, mayor of the Borough of Forest Hills, argues that residents shouldn’t have to choose one or the other. “We don’t have to choose between having a good environment or good jobs,” DeMarco says. “We have to have both, or we will have neither.”
That message reflects something deeper about the region: a community spirit and tradition of taking care of each other that, despite decades of pollution and economic uncertainty, is still very much alive here.
The Case for Electric Arc Furnace Technology
DeMarco points to a specific, practical solution: modernizing how steel gets made.
“It would be important to invest in the non-polluting version of making steel with Electric Arc Furnace technology instead of Victorian-era blast furnace technology,” she says.
Electric arc furnaces produce a fraction of the emissions and can run on clean electricity, making them a far less polluting way to produce the same steel the region has always been known for.
A Path Forward
The Mon Valley’s geography and workforce make it a genuinely attractive location for modern industrial production. Combined with an experienced, skilled labor force and a strong regional work ethic, the region is well-positioned to become a center for a new, cleaner industrial economy — one that could attract new business investment rather than relying solely on legacy industry to sustain it.
But getting there means being honest about failure to change is costing residents.
“Stop devaluing the health harms,” DeMarco says, pointing to documented consequences of prolonged exposure to industrial air pollution: chronic asthma, chronic low birth weight, and chronic heart disease. These outcomes are often treated as externalities — costs left out of the economic equation entirely. As DeMarco puts it, the people living with these conditions are the externalities.
The Bottom Line
Pittsburgh doesn’t have to trade a healthy environment for a stable economy. With a shift toward modern technology, the region has a real opportunity to protect both public health and the industrial identity that has defined it for generations — building a sustainable future instead of choosing between two things the community shouldn’t have to give up.
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