Jan 31, 2018 1 min read

It’s up to a Washington County judge to decide whether a group of Mon Valley residents and property owners can sue U.S. Steel over the shuttered Donora Zinc Works’ alleged legacy of heavy-metal contamination.

Judge Michael J. Lucas heard arguments Wednesday over a bid by the steel producer to dismiss a civil complaint that alleges those living around the zinc works – which closed in 1957  – still face “insidious industrial pollution in their homes, yards and communities” from operations there.

The complaint, filed July 7, seeks certification as a class-action lawsuit. Proposed class representatives are Louise Kowall and Evelyn Vehouc, both of Donora, and Donna Kopecek of Charleroi, whose child and grandchildren live in a home she owns in Donora.

Much of U.S. Steel’s motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of their 

“are suffering from a continuing harm in that each and every day, they wake up to live in a polluted property and suffer from additional exposure which cannot be removed unless and until professional remediation is performed.”