PITTSBURGH – A class action suit says a steel slag processing facility releases fugitive dust and air particulates onto the plaintiffs’ property, causing property damage through trespass, public and private nuisance and negligence.
Donna Frederick (on behalf of herself and all others similarly-situated) of Natrona Heights filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 28 versus Harsco Corporation, also of Natrona Heights.
“Steel slag, a glass-like byproduct of steel making, is produced during the separation of the molten steel from impurities in steelmaking furnaces. The slag occurs as a molten liquid melt and is a complex solution of silicates and oxides that solidifies upon cooling. Processed steel slag is commonly used to cover driveways, to fill potholes and is also used by homeowners as a landscaping stone in back yards around a pool area or patio,” the suit says.
“Over the past several years, fugitive dust and air particulates from defendant’s slag processing operations at the slag facility [in Natrona Heights] have been deposited throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. The fugitive dust and air particulates which entered plaintiffs’ property originated from defendant’s facility, where they are generated as a result of defendant’s slag processing operations. The fugitive dust and air particulate emissions caused by the slag facility have been and continue to be dispersed across all public and private land in the class area.”
The plaintiff says she and others have been harmed in the form of diminished property values and/or loss of use and enjoyment of their private property.
“Members of the public, including but not limited to, businesses, employees, commuters, tourists, visitors, minors, customers, clients and students, have experienced and been harmed by the fugitive dust and air particulates emitted from the slag facility into public spaces,” the suit states.
“However, unlike plaintiffs and the class, members of the public who are outside of the class definition have not suffered damages of the same kind, in the form of diminished property values and/or loss of use and enjoyment of their private property.”
The plaintiffs say the defendant “intentionally, recklessly, willfully, wantonly, maliciously, grossly and/or negligently failed to properly maintain, operate and/or construct the slag facility and caused the invasion of plaintiffs’ properties by fugitive dust and air particulates on intermittent and reoccurring dates too numerous to individually recount.”
For counts of trespass by fugitive dust and air particulates, private nuisance, public nuisance and negligence, the plaintiff is seeking judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and the class members and against the defendant, compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees, costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, an order that a nuisance was committed, injunctive relief in accordance with state and federal regulatory obligations and such further relief as the Court deems just and proper.
The plaintiffs are represented by James DePasquale in Pittsburgh.
The defendant has not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-011140
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com