The Clairton Coke plant - the largest in the country - has become something of a lightening rod in this community. And the town is full of people who are new to understanding what's going on and becoming active for the first time. Meet three of them.
Last year the Shenango Coke Works closed. This spring some of the people who fought it are celebrating by telling their stories of living downwind from one of the region's biggest and most visible polluters.
Silas House writes about life in coal country through rich, complex characters steeped in history and tradition. His activism is rooted in seeing how mining affected his family and community.
It's not every day that a major corporation agrees to move an entire community out of the path of pollution from one of its facilities. But a retired Louisiana school teacher was able to get Shell to do just that.
Environmentalist Adrianna Quintero talks about why environmental issues, climate change and immigration policy are all deeply linked for many Latino communities.
When 412 Food Rescue noticed a lot of smaller food donations were slipping through the cracks, they designed an app that makes it easy for volunteers to pitch in.
A National Guard veteran talks about why she will be among the military vets heading to North Dakota this weekend to join the protests against the Dakota Access pipeline.
