Philadelphia council members believe air pollution is healthy?

The ‘Stop Trashing Our Air Act’ was pulled from a Philadelphia City Council meeting because a few councilmembers indicated that they don’t believe that burning 7,000,000 pounds of trash per day in Chester is the cause of sickness and death to Chester residents.

Philadelphia brings 2,000,000 pounds of trash to Chester every day that is burned in the trash incinerator located on Chester’s riverfront. The contract expires between Philly and the Reworld incinerator in June and if passed, the ‘Stop Trashing Our Air Act’ will end any of Philadelphia’s trash from being sent to any incinerator.

Seven years ago, Philadelphia voted to continue their contract with the incinerator located in Chester without much discussion because the former Chester mayor sent Philadelphia a letter encouraging them to continue to send their trash to Chester. This time, I am encouraging Philadelphia City Council to not send their trash to Chester. 

Some Philadelphia councilmembers support the bill and only a few have reservations. I can’t fathom how any councilmember can admit they don’t believe that burning 7,000,000 pounds of trash in Chester City every day for the last 35ish years doesn’t have a huge impact on the deterioration of health and wellness of Chester residents even as credible evidence proves Chester residents greatly surpass several categories of health disparities across the entire state of Pennsylvania. 

I imagine those same councilmembers don’t believe the residents of South Philly who live near the Sunoco refinery that exploded and ultimately shut down in 2019 are living healthier lives because refinery air pollution doesn’t fill their lungs 24×7 anymore as it did for decades. 

Studies show conflicting data

For those people who tend to rely on studies and data as opposed to on the ground evidence, it’s easy to be fooled when incineration data is shared. It reminds me of the old saying, Figures Lie and Liars Figure.

Here’s an example of two conflicting, but true, statements:

1. The majority of incinerators in the United States are located in “majority-white” areas.
2. 79% of municipal trash incinerators in the United States are located in environmental-justice communities described as low-income communities and communities of color. These communities tend to have more people living nearby, burn more trash, and emit more pollutants.

The first statement is true because Reworld considers itself the Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility located in Delaware County (DELCO is 65% white). By default, Reworld always presents their pollution data as it relates to Delaware County or Delaware Valley. You must really press them to provide you with pollution data for Chester City only. 

Being defined as a Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility has legal and policy consequences as it frames regional air-quality and environmental analyses for five counties in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery) and four counties in New Jersey (Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer).

By taking this position, Reworld gets regional benefits and Chester experiences localized burdens. 

Clearly, there is a lot of open space in Delaware Valley, but the choice was made over 35 years ago to locate the nation’s largest incinerator in one of the most densely populated low income community of color.  

To Philadelphia Councilmembers

To Philadelphia councilmembers who really believe there’s credible data that proves that Chester residents are not getting sick from 7,000,000 pounds of trash burning in this tiny city every day for the last 35 years, I really need you to share your real excuse for continuing to allow your city to send 10 times more trash than Chester generates per day to our city every day. 

I will not allow myself to believe you are not convinced Chester people are getting sick and dying from this massive amount of trash burning as close as 2 blocks away from Chester homes full of mostly Black men, women, children and elderly. 

I will not allow myself to believe you are so drunk on Reworld leachate that you’ve lost sense of basic humanity towards your neighbors.

As I said at Philadelphia city council, this is your Jeff Brown moment. Answer this direct question asked to him by the Fox 29 mayor’s debate moderator:

Where Philadelphia trucks some of its trash has spurred accusations of pollution and environmental racism, specifically from the residents of Chester. Would you as mayor keep or change the existing waste disposal contracts?”

For some Philadelphia councilmembers, I’m hearing you give the same answer Brown gave. That’s disappointing. 

During my tenure as Mayor of Chester City, it is my promise to fight anyone who dumps on Chester or takes from Chester. I ask those of you with a heart to Join the Fight for Chester.