ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOR CHESTER
Welcome to Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL or “circle”). We are a community-led non-profit group leading the environmental justice movement for clean air and healthy communities in Chester City and Delaware County since 1992.
BAN THE BURN: END TRASH INCINERATION IN CHESTER
Did you know that the LARGEST trash incinerator in the U.S. is located in Chester, PA?
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NO LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG) IN DELCO!
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“THE LAST THING OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS”: LNG in Chester, PA
View interactive storymap on the threat of LNG and other polluters
TOXIC Flooding in Chester
Toxic flooding occurs when floodwaters become contaminated with chemicals and hazardous materials. Exposure to toxic flood waters can lead to serious health issues. Chester’s industrial history makes it more at risk to toxic flooding due to the waste from its industrial plants.
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PEOPLES CANCER INCIDENCE SCREENING TOOL (PCIST)
Cancer rates in Chester City and Delaware County are well above state and national averages. The dense pollution in our county is impacting the health ALL residents. Review reports for municipalities in Delco and other counties.
CANCER INCINDENCE REPORTS
CRCQL COMMUNITY MEETINGS
Next CRCQL Community Meeting: September 25 @ 7pm on Zoom.
REGISTER HERE
CRCQL General Meetings are for Chester residents, Delaware County residents, allies & supporters of environmental justice in Chester City and across the region. We welcome newcomers!
JOIN A TEAM!
Next Action Planning & Communications Team: September 30 @ 6:30pm on Zoom.
Action Planning & Communications team meets every other Tuesday evening at 6:30pm on Zoom. Research Team meets periodically. Email [email protected] to be added to our email list to receive meeting reminders and action alerts!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Visit our social media for more info on upcoming events! Check out our Instagram, our Facebook page, and the C4 instagram.
MEMOS
CRCQL applauds Philadelphia Council’s Stop Trashing Our Air Resolution
September 18, 2025 – On Thursday, September 18, Philadelphia Councilmember Jamie R. Gauthier presented the Stop Trashing Our Air resolution, declaring that Philadelphia must stop sending its trash to be burned in Chester. Philadelphia currently sends a majority of its waste to the largest trash incinerator in the nation, Covanta (now named Reworld), located in Chester, PA and just 15 miles south of the city.
The Covanta/Reworld incinerator burns up to 3,500 tons of trash per day, 70% of which becomes toxic air pollution and 30% becomes toxic ash sent to landfill. Almost a third of the trash burned in Chester is from Philadelphia.
Burning waste releases large amounts of several pollutants including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, lead and particulate matter. These pollutants are linked with respiratory illnesses like asthma and put individuals at higher risk for diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and others. The impact of facilities like Covanta/Reworld on the health of Chester residents can be seen in the staggeringly high rates of cancer and asthma in the City, where the childhood asthma rate is 5x the national average.
“For too long Chester residents have been paying for the region’s trash problems with their lives. Less than 2% of the trash burned at Reworld is from Chester, the rest is from Philadelphia, NYC, Delaware County, NJ and other states,” stated Zulene Mayfield, Chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL).
It should also be noted that air pollution doesn’t stay in one place. Chester is right outside of the city of Philadelphia, meaning its surrounding residents also suffer from the air pollution that Covanta/Reworld emits every day from burning trash.
Mayfield added, “Chester has become the dumping ground for the region, and we are determined to change that. We thank Councilmember Gauthier for her leadership in putting this resolution forward and committing to diverting Philly’s trash away from Chester. It is about time that the city of brotherly love treat its sister city Chester with love and stop contributing to polluting residents with their trash.”
More information on Zulene Mayfield, CRCQL and how to get involved at ChesterPaEJ.org.
CRCQL Statement regarding Penn America & LNG in Delaware County:
June 6, 2025 – Chester, PA – This week, CEO of Penn America, Franc James, boasted to the press that he met with White House officials about his project to build a colossal LNG export terminal in Delaware County, PA. Penn America’s $7+ billion, 60+ acre project would process 100 million cubic feet of gas daily to export overseas. Community opposition groups and local leaders continue to argue that there is absolutely no room in this region for an LNG facility which would directly expose residents to explosion risk and more pollution.
Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, a group fighting for environmental justice in the City of Chester, found out about this project back in 2022 and has been actively organizing with other groups in the region against it, educating the community and meeting with local officials. Penn America has been trying to make inroads in Chester since 2016, and originally planned for a site in Chester riverfront, but is now also considering Eddystone or Marcus Hook as potential sites.
“This major project would impact residents with explosion risk, pollution and decreased quality of life,” said CRCQL Chairperson, Zulene Mayfield. “It would lower property values and discourage people from remaining or relocating to this region. Coupled with the fact of two recent hospital closures and no access to a trauma center would increase the dangers of having such a large hazardous gasification plant in Delaware County.”
At the Pennsylvania LNG task force hearing at Widener University in August 2023, both Mayfield and Chester Mayor, Stefan Roots, spoke out against a facility being sited in Chester. “As a Chester elected official, I take public health and public safety very seriously,” Mayor Roots said. “The health and safety of Chester residents have been compromised by local industry for too long,” he continued. “Our residents are sick. We exceed in every measurable health disparity: asthma, birth defects, COPD, infant mortality, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and a shorter life expectancy.”
Typically LNG facilities are located on the Gulf or coastline on large tracts of land, usually with hundreds of acres of buffer from populations. This would be the largest LNG export facility on the east coast and located on a highly trafficked river. “Impacts that would result from the development of the proposed Penn America LNG Export facility include toxic air and water pollution and the inevitable degradation of the region’s environment,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network. “The threat to public safety from the transport, storage, processing, transloading, and shipping of this highly dangerous gas cannot be safely done in our densely populated southeastern Pennsylvania region. There is absolutely no place to locate such a massive project that won’t pose unacceptable risks to the people and the environment here. That’s why the federal government advises these get placed in remote locations, far from vulnerable areas.”
Mayfield referenced the massive explosion at an LNG export facility in Freeport, Texas in 2022 that had devastating impacts on local residents. “We are in contact with communities in Louisiana and Texas that are living next to these types of facilities. They are all the same – come in with promises of jobs and economic growth – residents we talk to say it has only created more problems and led to decreased property values and more pollution.”
As far as the promised job creation and energy independence that Penn America and Senator McCormick praise, Mayfield states, “They are all false promises. These jobs require years of experience in LNG facilities which our local residents do not have. All of this gas is being exported overseas for private profit at the expense of Pennsylvanians’ lives.”
Learn more about this project and how to get involved in stopping it at NoLNGDelco.com.
PAST EVENTS
Visit NEWS & UPDATES for full list of past events, actions and more. Or check out our Facebook page!
EJ Toxic Tour with Zulene: Each semester, Zulene leads a toxic tour of Chester’s industrial waterfront for Professor Giovanna Di Chiro’s class at Swarthmore College to discuss the impact of polluters in Chester, community resistance, and the opportunity for a cleaner future.
WEBINARS
“Looking Back, Moving Forward” Law, Policy & Environmental Justice
VIEW RECORDING OF CONFERENCE
Looking Back, Moving Forward, a 2-day virtual conference critically examining the past, present, and potential future roles of the law and legal strategies to advance environmental justice policy and action.
Zero Waste with Alex Danovitch
About CRCQL
Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL, pronounced “circle”) has been leading the fight against environmental racism in Chester, PA since 1992. Learn more about CRCQL’s history here.
CRCQL is a community-led activist group led by Chester residents and others concerned with air pollution and the health of our community, in Chester City and across the region.
CRCQL demands an end to toxic trash incineration at the Reworld facility, formerly Covanta, in Chester, increased emission standards for other polluters along the Delaware River, and opportunities of clean, green jobs for residents. Together we advocate for clean air and justice in our city and across Delaware County.
CHESTER IS NOT A SACRIFICE ZONE!
Email [email protected] to contact us and learn more.
