PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala talked exclusively with Channel 11, revealing what investigators believe might have been behind last month’s explosion that killed two steelworkers and injured at least 10 others at Clairton Coke Works.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> 2 dead, 10 injured in explosion at US Steel Clairton Coke Works plant
The deadly blast happened on August 11 and claimed the lives of 52-year-old Steven Menefee and 39-year-old Timothy Quinn.
District Attorney Zappala says cold water used to the flush the line during maintenance at the U.S. Steel plant might have played a significant role.
PHOTOS: Explosion at U.S. Steel Clairton Works Plant
“Preliminarily, they indicated there was a subcontractor on that site that day,” Zappala tells Channel 11. “I’m not sure of this, but the subcontractor was flushing some lines, and I think they were using water from the river. The water from the river is much colder - somehow that makes a difference in introducing that to the system because of the heat from all over the place.”
As we’ve reported, U.S. Steel says an investigation done by a third party shows that as a gas valve was being flushed, too much pressure built up, causing the valve to fail. That in turn led to coke oven gas filling up the area and ultimately an explosion.
We asked the DA if he believes there was any wrongdoing on the part of U.S. Steel.
“The investigation isn’t complete, so it’s too early to come to any conclusions, but there’s a subcontractor involved and it’s not necessarily the conditions of the facility itself,” Zappala added. “It’s what did the subcontractor do and what did he introduce into the system?”
DA Zappala says once the investigation is complete, we will see an explanation of what went wrong.
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