Health, Environmental Groups Demand Accountability Following Nippon Steel, U.S. Steel Merger

PITTSBURGH, PA — Doubling down on coal-based steelmaking will worsen asthma, cancer, and chronic disease across the Midwest while increasing climate pollution and causing American industry to fall behind, according to public interest groups who spoke on a June 24 press conference responding to Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel.

“Nippon Steel has swallowed a poison pill by agreeing to reline six U. S. Steel blast furnaces reaching the end of their lives. Its plan to cut emissions from its coal-based plants by partially reducing emissions will deliver too little, and come far too late to address climate risks,” said Roger Smith, Asia Lead at SteelWatch. “Nippon Steel’s plan is the definition of short-sighted, as if its leadership thinks future governments and investors won’t be putting increasing pressure on it to decarbonise.”

Air pollution from coal-based steel mills and coke plants directly owned by U.S. Steel is responsible for up to an estimated 200 premature deaths, 55,400 cases of asthma symptoms, and almost 12,000 lost days of work and school every year. A recent study found that school absenteeism among students with asthma was 80% higher in the area surrounding U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works facility in southwest Pennsylvania on days with higher air pollution. Nippon Steel has agreed to extend the life of coal-based assets for another 10 years, estimated to contribute to $16 to $30 billion in cumulative health costs, primarily from premature mortality, up to an estimated 2,000 premature deaths, over 550,000 cases of asthma symptoms and nearly 120,000 lost school days.

“Real progress will only come when public health and community revitalization are treated as non-negotiable priorities,” said Matthew Mehalik, Executive Director at the Breathe Project. “There have been too many years of promise-breaking and too much emphasis on short-term investments that continue to perpetuate community health harms and workforce anxiety.  There needs to be a focus on fundamental strategic priorities that would shift from fossil-fuel based steelmaking in the Mon Valley to cutting edge fossil-fuel free technology suitable for the future.”  

Instead of unnecessarily prolonging the life of the American blast furnace fleet — already the oldest in the world — advocates are urging Nippon Steel to upgrade these facilities with direct reduction (DRI) and electric arc furnaces (EAF) that can turn iron ore into high-grade crude steel without the use of metallurgical coal.

“GARD and the people who live in Gary want both a clean environment, good jobs, and a sustainable future for our city,” said Dorreen Carey, President of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development. “US Steel’s Gary Works is one of the largest polluters in the US. If Nippon wants to be a good neighbor to the people of Gary, it will start by doing two things. First, it will not request an exemption from new, stricter EPA air pollution rules for iron and steel and it will begin implementing those rules immediately. Second, it will commit to replacing Gary Works’ antiquated blast furnaces with new cleaner Direct Reduction ironmaking technology that will reduce health and climate harming emissions and make Gary Works competitive in the national and global steel industry.”

For decades, workers and residents have witnessed a cycle of lofty promises from U.S. Steel — many of which are later delayed or abandoned — often delivered without transparency or meaningful community input. U.S. Steel has paid nearly $64 million in air pollution enforcement actions, fines, and settlements related to the Mon Valley Works's three facilities since January of 2020, more than $900,000 per month on average. The company has been assessed over $7.4 million for these items since January of 2025.

“More than a century of toxic industrial emissions have rendered Northwest Indiana an epicenter of pollution, stateside and globally. New data that pinpoints the negative health and environmental impacts from steel mill pollution here can no longer be ignored. This long-overdue documentation reveals the human cost of life in a sacrifice zone, demanding urgent recognition and action,” said Susan Thomas, Director of Policy & Press at Just Transition Northwest Indiana. “The myth that we must choose between jobs and healthy communities has been debunked. We know that an investment in clean steel by Nippon at Gary Works would pay off exponentially to ensure family-sustaining union jobs and vast  improvements in public health, economy, and environment in the region. We call upon Nippon to seize this crucial opportunity to convert to sustainable, green steel production and lead Gary into the thriving future that communities want and deserve.”

According to estimates from The Breathe Project, up to 1,373 people in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania died each year from fine particulate matter, a common pollutant from coal-based steelmaking, from 2020 to 2022. 

“Trump promises his ‘golden share’ guarantees Nippon Steel will be a good steward of U.S. Steel facilities. Why does the federal government get to decide what is good or bad for local communities and workers? What plans do they have to learn about our concerns and challenges? The real answer is that there is no such plan,” said Qiyam Ansari, Western Pennsylvania Field Organizer for the Sierra Club’s Pennsylvania Chapter. “Neither Nippon Steel nor U.S. Steel has meaningfully engaged with local communities or workers about this transition, which suggests these corporations will continue to act unilaterally. At the same time, our federal government and our president remain blissfully ignorant.”

The climate risk from prolonging coal-based production for another 10 years is also alarming. Combined, Nippon Steel’s enlarged operations across the U.S. and Asia could generate more than a million tonnes of climate pollution per year at current production levels, equivalent to running 26 typical coal power plants.