Valley Clean Air Now

Valley Clean Air Now (VCAN) is a community-led nonprofit advocating for Mon Valley residents who continue to suffer severe health, economic, climate, and environmental injustice. Founded in 2018 by residents in the shadow of U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, Edgar Thomson, and Irvin Works, VCAN galvanizes the community to take action through local politics, grassroots organizing, community building, education, and community health initiatives. We serve the 22 municipalities along the Monongahela River from Homestead to Forward Township, delivering air purifiers to the households most at risk, documenting the health toll of industrial pollution through resident-led research, training residents as clean air advocates, and holding polluters and regulators accountable. Our vision is a Mon Valley where every resident, regardless of race, income, or zip code, can breathe clean air, thrive in good health, and have a meaningful voice in the region’s future.

More About Us

Valley Clean Air Now grew out of kitchen table conversations in 2018 among Clairton, Glassport, and West Mifflin residents who were tired of being sickened by the air they breathe. Those residents still lead the organization. We incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2024, hired our first full-time Executive Director in 2025 with organizational support from The Heinz Endowments, and operate from an office at 635 Monongahela Avenue in Glassport.

Whom we serve. VCAN serves the roughly 22 municipalities along the Monongahela River from Homestead to Forward Township, with a focus on the five boroughs closest to U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works: Clairton, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln, and Port Vue. These are environmental justice communities by every measure. Clairton Coke Works is the largest industrial air polluter in Allegheny County, and more than 36,000 people and seven public schools sit within three miles of it. Children in Clairton have roughly three times the national rate of asthma, and residents face elevated rates of COPD, heart disease, cancer, and low birth weight. Our members are the people living with those numbers every day.

What we do. Our work moves on three tracks at once. We provide direct relief, having delivered more than 1,000 HEPA air purifiers to Mon Valley homes since our 2020 pilot, with 1,000 more now being distributed. We build community knowledge through resident-led research, including our Mon Valley Community Health Survey, community benzene monitoring with university partners, and a ten-week Clean Air Advocacy curriculum that trains residents to understand the science, the regulations, and their own power. And we advocate for systemic change, testifying on Title V permits, challenging the misuse of Allegheny County’s Clean Air Fund, serving on the county’s Air Pollution Control Advisory Committee, and working with PennFuture and regional partners on a Common Agenda for clean air.

What we value. We believe the people who live with pollution should lead the fight against it, which is why residents hold leadership roles and are compensated for their time and expertise. We believe in evidence, which is why our research follows community-based participatory methods and goes through ethics review. We believe accountability runs in every direction: polluters to the community, regulators to the law, and VCAN to the residents and funders who trust us. And we believe clean air and a strong economy are not opposing goals. A healthy Mon Valley is the foundation for the next generation to stay, work, and raise families here.

Where we are headed. With a growing staff, a new Community Advisory Committee, and a new Board of Directors on the way, VCAN is moving from an all-volunteer effort to a durable institution. We are expanding resident engagement across every Mon Valley community, building the fundraising systems to sustain our programs, and exploring new work in community health, economic development, and local air monitoring. We invite neighbors, professionals, and partners who share our values to join us.