Air protection is one of the key areas in environmental care at U. S. Steel Košice. Compared to previous years, we are still holding on to the value we have achieved, which is a 97 percent reduction in particulate matter compared to 2001.

Air quality is controlled by the SHMÚ monitoring station located in Veľká Ida, which is one of two in the Slovak Republic whose measurement results are not always good. A large contributor to air pollution are the inhabitants of the settlement that belongs to this village, especially in the heating season.

"We have a protective forest planted between the settlement and the slag farm, which we take care of, we plant trees there, we follow fire protection belts to eliminate the occurrence of fire, but despite this, grass is regularly burned there, from which trees also catch. We planted 2,500 poplars, beeches and lindens there in 2024. They are planted in several rows. However, now we see it more efficient to start planting tall shrubs there, because trees are becoming a cheap and accessible fuel for the inhabitants of the settlement. Together with my colleagues, we are trying to identify when it is pollution, which is of an industrial nature and when it is the result of heating and burning various objects in the homes of settlers. The impact of traffic is not that significant, except for the road along the heap, and we have recorded exceeding several times at the station due to Saharan dust," says Miloš Fodor, General Manager for the Environment (in the photo while planting linden trees in the factory).

They cleaned the back yard of the factory

Last year, they divided the entire space into several sections. They managed to reclaim sections 11 and 12, the so-called back yard of the factory, which served as a temporary storage of materials. "Thanks to the excellent cooperation with our colleagues from the steel plant, we put things in order and the company that provides slag processing leveled the entire space. We would still like to monitor the entire area through another monitoring station. Another measure we have taken is sending notifications to limit the handling of dusty materials when strong winds are about to blow. We have implemented a new water distribution system as part of the processing of steel slag. In the future, we would like to implement water showers, something like pedestal cannons in ski resorts. When a strong wind starts to blow, so that we can make a water curtain and prevent the flow of dust. If this is not enough, we will have to build a fence with dense filling all around, which would reduce the wind speed and thus eliminate the removal of dust into the distance," added Miloš Fodor.

There will be a bird island next to the WWTP

Another excellent achievement was achieved in the operation of water management in the vicinity of the wastewater treatment plant in Sokolany, specifically at the workplace where sludge was handled, many trucks went there, the road was dusty and often strangers from the village could get there, who exported waste there.

They want to fence this area and plant trees there so that birds can also nest here. They have set aside a different space for handling the sludge, which is more suitable. During the remediation work on the dam, a large space was created, which looks like a second emergency tank. Ecologists, together with the water management operation, are considering using this space to support the nesting of waterfowl.

We will count the trees

Trees help us breathe cleaner air – the green lungs of our planet. In 2025, colleagues from the GM Environment Department provided care for 205,191 m2 of forest land, 545,593 m2 of other forested land and 28,432 m2 of other land around the USSK site. 2,344 new trees were planted.

Today, we cannot say exactly how many and what types of trees grow on the factory premises.

"This year, in cooperation with a dendrologist, we will start mapping them. It will be a work for a longer period of time, until we map the entire area, we would like to start in the spring, within a few weeks," said Miloš Fodor.