Pittsburgh

"Every Voice Heard" by Justin Merriman

People march through Pittsburgh’s streets as part of the “Every Voice Heard, Every Vote Counted,” rally to call for an accurate count of votes in Pennsylvania and to celebrate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden winning the presidency, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. The rally which was organized by Pennsylvania United and the Alliance for Police Accountability drew several hundred people.

Food Distribution by Justin Merriman

Barbara Peden, 56, of Clairton, Pa., sits in her car as she waits for a weekly food distribution on October 29, 2020 at the Clairton Family Center in Clairton, Pa. Peden arrived hours before the distribution began to secure her place in line. 'In recent weeks it has become increasingly difficult to get something. Sometimes the parking lot is just full," she says. Often there is not enough food for everyone waiting.

Peden, who lives on disability and relies on the food to survive says, “I live in poverty. Without this food I would be hungry.” She is voting for Joe Biden in the upcoming election. "Trump has made our lives unbearable. He's destroying America. The residents of Pennsylvania won't forget that when they vote,” she says.

Fayette County by Justin Merriman

Kids ride their bikes past a church along Pittsburgh Street in Connellsville, Pa., part of Fayette County, on October 25, 2020. Democrats in Fayette County lead Republicans with 39,857 voters compared to 34,460 Democrats, with another 8,028 independents. However, Democrats once held a 3-to-1 advantage in the county just 10 years ago. In the 2016 election, Trump won Fayette County with 64.4% of the votes over Hillary Clinton’s 33.4%.

U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works by Justin Merriman

Steam billows out of U.S. Steel's coke plant on October 25, 2020 in Clairton, Pa. President Trump placed tariffs of foreign-made steel in an effort to revive the steel industry. His efforts have drawn the support of many who work in the plant. While the tariffs succeeded for a short time to push down steel imports, create higher prices for domestic steelmakers, and to expand the workforce by about 6,000 jobs, by the following year those gains nearly disappeared.

U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works by Justin Merriman

Steam billows out of U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works on March 5, 2019 in Clairton, Pa. The coke plant has come under scrutiny after a Dec. 24 fire triggered an air quality alert from the release of sulfur dioxide.
The @lungassociation released its “State of the Air 2019” report and gave Pittsburgh’s metro area an “F” grade for air quality. According to the report, Allegheny County remains the only county in the United States, outside of the state of California, to get failing grades in both soot and ozone categories.

East Palestine Derailment 3 of 3 by Justin Merriman

Purdue University professor Dr. Andrew Whelton, an expert on disasters, environmental chemistry, public health and water quality, climbs down the bank to take water samples of Sulfur Run on March 24, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. The stream was heavily contaminated by the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment.

Jet Walker, 13, holds a sign in front of his East Palestine home as President Biden drives by in his motorcade to visit the site of the Norfolk Souther train derailment on February 16, 2024.

George Rockenberger, 84, and his wife, Janet, sits on a bench as over 150 people wait in line for the Norfolk Southern Family Assistance Center to open on February 17, 2023 at the Abundant Life Church in New Waterford, Ohio. Residents who qualify can receive a $1000 payment as well as reimbursement to cover costs related to the evacuation from Norfolk Southern.

Tyson Tunno, 4, holds a coloring book ‘Coping After a Disaster’ that was given to him at the Health Resource Center in Darlington, Pa., on March 1, 2023. Tyson’s mother, Carly Tunno was visiting the center to have questions answered about soil contamination and possible testing. She has limited her children’s time outdoors with concerns after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The Pennsylvania Department of Health opened the center on Feb. 28 at the Darlington Township Building to see residents with concerns following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

People fill the auditorium of Blackhawk High School at the East Palestine Justice’s town hall meeting on March 23, 2023 in Beaver Falls, Pa. East Palestine Justice, a team of attorneys and activists headed by environmental advocate Erin Brockovich, has hosted several town halls in Ohio and Pennsylvania since the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine. Blackhawk High School, which is 9 miles from East Palestine, was evacuated over concerns of an explosion. A mandatory evacuation order was in effect for anyone living within one mile of the scene.

Courtney Miller, 35, stands near a pile of paperwork she’s gathered about the Norfolk Southern train derailment, as she stands in the kitchen of her home in East Palestine, Ohio on Saturday, March 4, 2023.

Contractors with Norfolk Southern work on cleaning toxic chemicals from Sulphur Run on February 24, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.

The railroad tracks have been removed through an area that is being remediated as efforts continue the clean-up from the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment on March 15, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.

Christa Graves, 49, of Unity Township pokes at Sulfur Run to see if she can still see the sheen on the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024.

Snow falls along North Market Street as seen through the photographers windshield in East Palestine, Ohio on January 18, 2024.

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023.

The settlement, if approved by a court, would pay class action claims within a 20-mile radius of the accident and personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius.

Residents, many of which still complain about respiratory issues, anxiety, unexplained rashes, and nosebleeds, fear it isn’t enough and doesn’t take into account potential costs from long-term health impacts of the derailment that spilled more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals into the soil, water and air.

View full gallery here.

Tree of Life by Justin Merriman

Nearly six years after the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on Sunday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 worshippers were murdered in the 2018 mass shooting. The new building will include a museum to combat antisemitism and a memorial to the victims of the attack: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger. This collection of images is from the transformation of the Tree of Life building over the last few years.

NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships by Justin Merriman

Read more about the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Wrestling Championships in ESPN.

Hot Mass by Justin Merriman

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Aaron Clark is photographed at Hot Mass in Downtown, Pittsburgh on March 20, 2019. Clark is co-founder of the Humanaut and Honcho DJ collectives/event production crews, and the weekly 'Hot Mass' after-hours club in Pittsburgh. He also serves as a key member of Pittsburgh's annual VIA Music & New Media Festival.

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Lauren Goshinski, co-founder of the VIA Festival, gfx collective, and resident DJ at Hot Mass is photographed at the after-hours club in Pittsburgh on March, 20, 2019.

Beto O'Rourke by Justin Merriman

Beto O’Rourke, the former three-term Texas congressman and Senate hopeful, campaigns at Penn State University a week into his presidential bid on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 in State College, Pa. O’Rourke’s stop in Pennsylvania follows visits to Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan before heading to New Hampshire.

Facing a Predator by Justin Merriman

Read more about this story on NBC News.