Rep. Summer Lee Visits Yukon to Stand with Residents in Fight Against MAX Environmental’s Toxic Legacy 

(PHOTOS) 

PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 12, 2025 — Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) joined the Mountain Watershed Association for a tour of hazardous waste sites operated by MAX Environmental Technologies, followed by a listening session with community members whose lives have been upended by decades of toxic pollution. 

The tour began at the Yukon Fire Hall and included stops at several former and active hazardous waste sites, including the front entrance to MAX Environmental’s facility and Sewickley Creek—where the company has been found to discharge pollutants far exceeding its Clean Water Act permit limits. 

“The people of Yukon have been treated as collateral damage for far too long,” said Lee. “For decades, families here have been forced to live with poisoned air, contaminated water, and land they can’t safely use, all while the polluters responsible continue with business as usual. We need transparency, accountability, and enforceable protections—not just empty promises and toothless orders that let corporations off the hook. I will fight alongside this community to ensure the EPA and DEP hold MAX Environmental accountable, and that every family here can breathe clean air, drink safe water, and raise their children without fear of what’s in their soil or their lungs.” 

For over 50 years, MAX Environmental has “accepted, ‘cleaned,’ and disposed of” hazardous waste in and around Yukon. Of the six hazardous waste sites, five are closed. The one landfill still open continues to receive waste despite multiple enforcement actions. 

In March 2023, inspections by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed severe violations, including: 

• Discharging pollutants into Sewickley Creek above permitted limits 
• Holes and structural deficiencies in the wastewater treatment containment systems 
• Failure to maintain equipment and train employees in pollution prevention. 

These findings prompted the EPA to issue two administrative consent orders in 2024—one in April under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) that temporarily halted hazardous waste disposal, and another in September under the Clean Water Act mandating major repairs and third-party oversight. Yet as of the first quarter of 2025, EPA’s own website lists MAX in “significant noncompliance.” 

During today’s listening session, residents described living with chronic respiratory illnesses, elevated cancer rates, and the inability to use their own properties safely. One resident explained that it has become “normal” to stay indoors on windy days to avoid breathing in contaminated dust. Others spoke of the heartbreak of raising children in a community where clean air and water can no longer be taken for granted. 

Congresswoman Lee stressed that the community’s fight is part of a larger battle against environmental rollbacks at the federal level: 

“Right now, the Trump administration has launched what it calls the ‘Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History,’ which involves the rescission of critical environmental standards and rules, such as EPA’s endangerment finding—the legal foundation for pollution limits across the board. If they succeed, it will undermine protections for communities like Yukon, forcing families already burdened by decades of toxic exposure to keep paying the biggest price.” 

Community members outlined their demands for stronger oversight and accountability, asking Congresswoman Lee to help push for measures that would: 

• Press the EPA for regular, public updates on enforcement of the consent orders 
• Demand a halt to new waste acceptance until all violations are resolved 
• Secure comprehensive sampling of the closed “Landfill 6” 
• Push for robust, independent monitoring both on- and offsite 
• Pursue a long-term plan for remediation and eventual closure of the facility if they cannot comply 

The visit was hosted by Mountain Watershed Association staff, including Youghiogheny Riverkeeper Eric Harder, Community Organizing Manager Stacey Magda, and Community Advocate Sarah Thomas.  

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Accountability and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000