Chester’s Battle for Environmental Justice Is Continuing (Delco.Today – 3/18/25)
Published: 5:08 am EDT March 18, 2025Updated: 7:27 am EDT March 18, 2025
Image via CRCQL, Facebook.
A clean air protest in Chester by Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living on April 24, 2024.
Chester’s mayor, Stefan Roots, has a wonderful vision—a beautiful waterfront for his city.
“Chester is Delaware County’s waterfront. We want to enjoy the waterfront like other communities enjoy their waterfront. It can be the economic engine that drives Chester to the future,” he said.
One problem. There are too many pollution-emitting industries in Chester, writes Christina Lengyel for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Residents say it’s affecting their health.
There are 11 industries in Chester emitting carcinogens.
Each one is legal, releasing the maximum allowable pollution.
It’s the combination of so many industries together—a factory next to an incinerator next to a sewage treatment plant next to an oil refinery, railroad yard, airport and highway.
Chester residents and some state House legislators are asking for a law that would allow the state Department of Environmental Resources to withhold any new permits until the cumulative impact of pollution is evaluated.
“Our children literally cannot breathe, and the PA legislators, the EPA, the DEP, the DER, have done nothing, nothing to protect my community, the people that I love and given our kids just a chance to survive,” said Zulene Mayfield, founder of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living.
Find out more pollution-emitting industries and Chester’s environmental justice movement in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Tags: Chester city, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, Delaware County, DEP, Department of Environmental Resources, DER, EPA, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Stefan Roots, Zulene Mayfield
