The Pitt News
T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | May 15, 2019 | Volume 110 | Issue 1
‘Union avoidance’
UP, UP AND AWAY
firm receiveD $240k from Pitt Jon Moss
News Editor
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carries the University of Pittsburgh NSF SHREC’s STP-H6-SSIVP supercomputer to the International Space Station at Cape Canaveral on May 4. Theo Schwarz | senior staff photographer
CITY RECEIVES ‘F’ FOR AIR QUALITY DESPITE IMPROVEMENT Brian Gentry
Senior Staff Writer Pittsburgh has made strides in distancing itself from its industrial past, but the region remains plagued by lingering air quality concerns. Allegheny County received an “F” rating from the American Lung Association in this year’s “State of the Air” report in every category due to particulate matter, or PM, and ozone concentrations that exceeded national air quality standards. Out of 203 metropolitan areas, the Pittsburgh tri-state area — which encompasses parts of Ohio and West Virginia — ranked seventh in worst annual PM pollution. Between 2015 and 2017, the years considered in the 2019 report, Allegheny County
had an average of 8.3 days each year that exceeded the ozone standard and 10.5 days that exceeded the PM standard — more than 3.2 days above either standard is considered a failing grade. In addition, the average annual PM concentration was 13.0 micrograms per meter cubed — anything above the air standard of 12.0 micrograms per meter cubed is considered failing. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, intake of PM, which is usually made up of dust and soot, is associated with heart problems, difficulties breathing and aggravated asthma, while ozone primarily has an effect on breathing and can lead to chronic impaired lung function. These are two primary pollutants considered when evaluating air quality. But while
the region did receive a failing grade for the past several years for these pollutants, it has shown marked improvement within the past few decades. Between 2000 and 2002, the Pittsburgh metro area had on average 47.5 days annually which exceeded the ozone standard. During that two year period, the area also exceeded particulate limits 62 times annually and had an average PM concentration of 21.4 micrograms per meter cubed. Other parts of the country fared worse this year than Pittsburgh in the rankings. Regions of California, particularly in southern California and the Central Valley, received failing grades in both PM and ozone as well — these areas are more prone to chronic bad air quality due to local climate and wildfires. See Air Quality on page 2
A “union avoidance” law firm received a large windfall of legal fees from Pitt, according to previously unreported University financial disclosure reports. Pitt’s Office of University Counsel paid Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr $239,061 in fees between the summers of 2016 and 2018 to provide legal support during the separate graduate student and faculty campaigns for unionization. According to its website, Ballard Spahr can “advise on employer rights and responsibilities during the critical pre-election period” and “work closely with management to design and carry out an effective election campaign.” The annual financial disclosure reports are required by Pennsylvania’s education regulations, the Public School Code of 1949, which mandate that staterelated universities provide a list of all goods and services contracts which exceed $1,000 in price every fiscal year. They show the University paid Ballard Spahr $20,555 in 2015, $73,922 in 2017 and $144,584 in 2018. A list of expenses for the most recent reporting period — July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019 — is due to Commonwealth officials by the end of the calendar year. Pitt spokesperson Joe Miksch said Ballard Spahr has provided expertise in numerous areas over the last 10 years. “They are one vendor among hundreds that we maintain partnerships with,” Miksch wrote in an email. “This vendor network plays a key role in helping the University meet its mission of leveraging knowledge for society’s gain while also efficiently addressing specific issues affecting students, faculty and staff.” Miksch did not respond to questions on how much of the money paid to the firm was related to unionization efforts, as well as whether or not any student tuition money was used for the fees. Abby Cartus, a union organizer and graduate student in epidemiology, said the payments to Ballard Spahr are an example of the University “wasting” resources that could have gone to students. “It is a disgrace that the University has already spent nearly a quarter million dollars on union-busting lawyers to prevent its own employees from having a say in their workplace, while increasing tuition for in-state students by nearly 5 percent over the same period,” Cartus wrote in an email.