Environmental justice activists critique MACH2 exclusivity

WHYY recently covered the proposed Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2), which has been holding networking meetings among local businesses while failing to adequately engage local environmental justice groups. The hub would produce, process, and use hydrogen (which is cleaner than burning fossil fuels but is made using fossil fuel energy) throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware.

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“Zulene Mayfield, who leads the environmental justice group Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, was upset to learn about the MACH2 networking meet-ups — which she said her group was not invited to.

‘You all are trying to make all of these connections with these businesses, with the unions, with the politicians. Where is the say of the people who are going to be mostly impacted?’ she said. ‘We have requested a seat at the table, and still you’re cutting the communities out of this … This disrespect is real.’

Citron said MACH2 leadership has met with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Citizens Advisory Council, several environmental justice activists and environmental advocacy groups — including Mayfield’s.

Citron said once Phase 1 of hub planning begins, residents near hub projects will get a say in details such as where on a property hydrogen-producing equipment is located.

‘The location of most of the projects is decided,’ he said. ‘What is not decided is the specific layout of what happens at those locations. And that is where there is the community opportunity — the requirement for community engagement — and the opportunity for two-way communication.’

Mayfield, who for years has led battles against the Reworld (formerly Covanta) trash incinerator in Chester, said her group has been told that community engagement around the hydrogen hub has not begun in earnest yet because the projects are not set in stone. But she fears communities won’t be included until the projects are ‘shovel-ready.’

‘What better time frame to pull a community in [than] when you’re formulating this stuff?’ she said. ‘[Otherwise,] the community gets to the station, and the train is already gone.’

Citron defended the decision to delay broader community engagement until later in the planning process as an effort to avoid presenting half-baked plans and asking residents to engage with ideas that may never pan out.”

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