Credit: Courtesy of Haley LewisAmong those protections was a Biden-era federal rule requiring fenceline monitoring and improved workplace practices at 11 coke oven facilities across the country. Coke ovens are high‑temperature, oxygen‑free chambers used to bake certain types of bituminous coal into coke, a nearly pure carbon fuel used in blast furnaces for steelmaking. During that time, fenceline monitoring showed elevated levels of benzene at several coke oven facilities. At the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works in Pennsylvania, benzene levels were 933 percent above that threshold, increasing cancer risks by as much as 26.5 cases in every 10,000 people. Haley Lewis said she deeply regrets not being able to tell Charlie Powell about the coke ovens lawsuit before his death.

Source: Daily Nation February 11, 2026 22:41 UTC