Pittsburgh fares poorly in pollution study

Pittsburgh has traded in steel and smokestacks for high tech and health care, but the city fared poorly in a new pollution study.

Pittsburgh ranked No. 1 in the American Lung Association's "Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution."

The biggest source of particle pollution was U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works, according to the American Lung Association. The report is based on air quality measurements reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by state and local agencies between 2004 and 2006, and it looks at three key pollution measures.

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Those are, Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution, Year-Round Particle Pollution, and Most Polluted by Ozone.

Last week, the Allegheny County Health Department said it reached an agreement with U.S. Steel Corp. over air pollution violations at Clairton Coke Works that calls for U.S. Steel (NYSE:X) to reduce emissions by performing repair and maintenance on nine of its 12 coke oven batteries, and set shutdown dates for Clairton's six oldest batteries.

U.S. Steel also said it would invest $1 billion in Clairton Works to replace and rehab several coke ovens.

Pittsburgh overtook the Los Angeles area in short-term particle pollution. Los Angeles still took No. 1 in ozone pollution and year-round particle pollution, according to the study.