Inside Chester’s fight against ‘environmental genocide’ – The Philadelphia Tribune 7/27/2026
Marco Cerino TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
(First of two parts)
Some residents recall growing up in a vibrant, diverse, working-class neighborhood in Chester where they enjoyed walkable shopping, good schools and various houses of worship.
“Before the incinerator was there, we had a very, very beautiful community,” Bonnie Waites told The Tribune late last week. “We grew up with a playground, we grew up with swimming pools, we grew up where everybody could go outside and play and breathe.
“Once Covanta came, you couldn’t put your windows up … you couldn’t breathe,” she continued. “The trucks were terrible, dropping garbage all along Second Street” near the facility.
Philadelphia sends about 40% of its trash to the site, about one-third of the volume processed. The remainder comes from New York City and other municipalities in Delaware County.
The Philadelphia contract for waste removal expired in June, and one City Council member has asked the mayor to stop sending the city’s trash to Chester. The city said it has looked for new options while continuing to work with the incinerator.
Chester residents say the issue moved to the forefront for them in 1992 when Covanta, now Reworld Sustainable Solutions, opened a trash incinerator in the city. Children growing up there live with asthma rates five times the national average, according to published reports.
During a recent interview with The Tribune at Everybody Eats restaurant in Chester, residents spoke of at least one person in their family lost to cancer, many of whom died in their 40s and 50s.
“On my block, there were 12 deaths,” Margaret “Princess” Brown, a resident, said. “You talk about husbands and wives dying and all (from) cancer.”
“My pop-pop, he lived in Chester his whole life, passed away of cancer, so I (believe) the incinerator probably was a part of that because he was always near that and outside his whole life,” said Gage Cunningham, a rising senior at Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square.
Cunningham said all of his friends and cousins in his age group grew up with asthma or some breathing issues while he did not. “I guess I’m lucky,” he said.
Largest incinerator in the U.S
Reworld operates the incinerator, the largest in the country, along the Delaware River, a parking lot away from Subaru Park and across the train tracks from residents.
Jason Hahn, senior manager of communications at Reworld, said the site is “committed to operating its Chester facility safely, transparently and in compliance with all applicable state and federal environmental regulations. The facts are clear: The facility operates up to 99% below federal emission guidelines, verified through continuous emissions monitoring and stack testing.
“In addition, a human health risk assessment completed by an independent third party concluded that potential risks to human health are well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s long-established risk thresholds.”
He also said Reworld “is proud to have served the Chester community for more than 20 years and remains committed to being a long-term partner in the city’s future, providing sustainable solutions while supporting environmental stewardship for years to come.”
‘Affront to the senses’
Dr. Nolan Fontaine, who holds a doctorate in sociology, equity studies and education and is president of the Urban Indian Heritage Society, described the Reworld® site as an affront to the senses. The noise from trucks at all hours makes sleeping hard. The dirty air “tastes sour” and makes skin feel “slimy,” he said.
Beyond the physical toll, there’s a level of hypervigilance required, he said.
“You are always thinking about an emergency exit plan. At least my family and I talk about it daily. What happens if this blows up? What happens if this floods? … These are constant conversations we have every day.”
Zulene Mayfield, who founded Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living in 1992 in response to the incinerator’s opening, called the situation “environmental genocide” that has surpassed a health toll. The city’s 2020 population of 32,605 is less than half its 1950 peak of 66,309, according to census figures. Since 1990, the city’s population has decreased by more than 22%.
According to residents, Chester has become a “food desert.” To address the issue, Everybody Eats, where the interviews were held, hosts weekly food giveaways for residents who cannot access fresh food. Despite the presence of the Reworld facility, residents have to pay for trash collection in addition to local taxes.
“We are paying for our own demise,” said Mayfield, who bought a house on West Front Street around the time the incinerator opened.
Trucks bringing trash into the facility created traffic headaches for neighbors who could not leave for work in the morning, she said. Even after the trucks were rerouted and no longer directly affected street traffic, the burning trash and hazardous exhaust drove away residents.
Mayfield said the neighborhood was 81% owner-occupied in 1992. Now, that number is below 30%. She has given up trying to sell or rent the home she bought. Her block of abandoned, boarded-up houses stands as a ghost of what once was.
“You could not sell a house in that whole row of Front Street,” she said. “Everybody walked away from their house. … I tried to rent it, and I didn’t want to rent to anybody with children, and it was just horrendous.”
Part II: How Reworld has divided elected officials in Chester and Philadelphia.
Read the original article here.
