Even
before the first Earth Day
in 1970, Duquesne Light
was pioneering ways to
protect the environment.
While we no longer
operate power
stations, we helped improve
air quality by
installing the first
full-scale, plant-wide
scrubber systems in
the nation during the 1970s, and more
recently, we were
nationally recognized
for our innovative
solution to reducing
nitrogen oxide
emissions.
We proved that fly
ash
–
once considered
a "waste"
by-product
– could be put
to good use as
fill for highway
embankments, and used
more than 350,000 tons
of it on the East
Street Valley
Expressway, north of
Pittsburgh.
Our successful efforts at raising rainbow trout in treated mine water have drawn
various accolades, with Pennsylvania's secretary of Environmental Protection (DEP) calling it the "crown jewel"
of the state's mine reclamation projects. As part of the Warwick Mountain Fisheries project, the fish are being
marketed commercially, with profits to offset a percentage of water treatment costs at the company's former coal
mines in Greene County, Pa.
We have been recognized by the Allegheny County Health Department as one of the
first companies in the county to practice pollution prevention. Through the county's Enviro-Star program, our
Manchester, McKeesport and Penn Hills facilities have been designated as pollution prevention partners since the
1990s for strategies to reduce hazardous wastes and promote recycling.
We also are active
in local
environmental efforts,
including the Western
Pennsylvania
Conservancy Floral Bed
program and the Ohio
River Sweep.
Even
before the first Earth Day
in 1970, Duquesne Light
was pioneering ways to
protect the environment.