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Dive Brief:
An explosion that killed two people and injured 11 others at U.S. Steel’s Clairton, Pennsylvania, facility one year ago was the result of poor safety practices and a lack of written policies and procedures, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board determined in its final report Monday.
The agency found that the Aug. 11, 2025 explosion came from a coke oven gas leak during a maintenance operation in which workers tried to wash the internal surface of a double disc gate isolation valve, according to the 86-page report. Pressure built inside the valve, which failed and led to a leak of toxic and flammable coke oven gas.
U.S. Steel workers “for at least three years prior to the incident” had used pressurized water for the task without any formal procedure describing it. The Chemical Safety Board identified issues pertaining to procedures and hazard analysis, facility siting and process safety management systems. The agency made several recommendations to the companies involved following its investigation.
