DO NOT REUSE ONE USE ONLY
By John Peña, PublicSource
Every day for the last fourteen years, I’ve made a drawing about my day. With each drawing, I try to capture a simple moment from my day. Some drawings are funny. Some are sad. Some are filled with awe and wonder, while others are filled with ambivalence and grief. However, it’s only when the drawings are taken as a whole that larger shapes begin to emerge — shapes that speak to the imperceptible growth and change that unfolds while I’m focused on the day-to-day. I call this project, “Daily Geology.” The following essay is comprised of drawings from this collection.
Editor’s note: PublicSource asked U.S. Steel for its response to the concerns expressed in this essay.
“U. S. Steel values our shared environment and the communities where we operate and live,” the company responded. “In the Mon Valley, there are more than 3,000 men and women working daily to make essential steel in a way that has produced a 99% environmental and permit regulation compliance rate. U. S. Steel has invested roughly $750 million in its Mon Valley operations in the past five years and invests more than $100 million into environmental compliance there annually.
“It is important to note that the state standard for hydrogen sulfide is not health-based, and was developed to protect paint on homes. Pennsylvania is one of very few states that has a hydrogen sulfide standard, and there are no federal standards for it. Furthermore, based upon meteorology, any elevated hydrogen sulfide levels in Wilkinsburg are not reasonably related to coke making at Clairton.
“Our commitment to the environmental improvement of Allegheny County– which has been in attainment with federal national ambient air quality standards for the last four calendar years – remains unwavering.”
John Peña is a Pittsburgh-based multidisciplinary artist who make comics, sculpture and public art. He can be reached at johnpena@johnpena.net.
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