The community of Chester is a mainly poor, largely African-American city in Pennsylvania's Delaware county. In what many identify as environmental racism, residents of Chester have been overwhelmed by a proliferation of waste processing facilities. Many environmental activists say that Chester is enduring a disproportionate share of the burden of area waste disposal by having such large incinerators and sewage plants. For instance, the Delcora sewage plant in Chester takes in 90% of the waste water from Delaware County. One hundred percent of all of the municipal solid waste in Delaware County is burned at the Westinghouse incinerator in Chester. Also, medical waste from several states is burned at the Chester Thermal Pure autoclave facility.
The effects of this concentration of pollution appear to be highly detrimental to the health and well-being of community members. This is evidenced by the fact that Chester has the highest infant mortality rate in the state of Pennsylvania, more than double that of Delaware county. Also, Chester has a general mortality rate and a lung cancer mortality rate about 60% higher than the rates for Delaware County. While 13.4% of Chester residents have asthma, the national average is only 4.1%. The national average for chronic bronchitis is 5%, but a total of 11.2% of Chester residents suffer from that condition. In addition, the blood lead levels in children in Chester are unacceptably high with over 60% of the samples above the recommended maximum level
It is not hard to imagine how Chester residents felt when they learned that two pending permit applications would allow a garbage incinerator in Chester (currently operated by American Ref-Fuel) to burn more hazardous types of waste and to store more waste on their 'tipping floor' at once. In addition to the incinerator's requests, a local waste company based in Chester wants to bring construction and demolition wastes into Chester. Construction. Demolition waste contains hazardous materials like lead and mercury-tainted paint, asbestos from old boilers, and formaldehyde from discarded insulation. Large quantities of 'outdoor' wood preserved with arsenic and with pentachlorophenol, a substance extremely contaminated with dioxin, will also cause problems by poisoning ground water and surface runoff.
The community group, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL, pronounced 'circle') is dedicated to improving public health and well-being in Chester through limiting and eliminating the waste facilities in their city. Another group, the student-run "Campus Coalition Concerning Chester", (C-4) was formed to help fight the injustices in the city of Chester by raising awareness of the situation and effecting change through public pressure. These two groups have been the core of the resistance, but many others have become involved in the past few years. The Bryn Mawr College Greens have organized a protest against the pending legislation for Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, at the Conshohoken, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The Greens will be showing their opposition to the increase in environmental toxins that the pending permits would allow. If you would like to join the protest, call Elsa Heidorn at (610) 526-7601 or Kat Albright at (610) 526-7706.