NO LNG IN CHESTER!

Another polluting Industry trying to come to Chester! Join us in opposition against this explosive and polluting liquified natural gas facility pursuing a location on the Chester waterfront and proposing to dislocate residents and businesses!

In August 2023, the LNG Task Force held a public meeting at Widener University about the prospect of an LNG facility in Chester and hundreds of members from the community showed out in protest. View coverage and footage on our News & Updates page.

Who is the LNG Task Force? The PA Legislature passed a bill last year, and Governor Wolf signed it into law, setting up a “Philadelphia LNG Task Force” targeting southeast PA in the Delaware River Watershed as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export hub, regardless of the public safety and health harms of explosive and polluting LNG, the inevitable environmental damage, and the exacerbation of the climate crisis. View their final report here.

What is LNG?

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a form of natural gas that allows for it to be transported distances that pipelines are unable to achieve. The gas is procured from natural gas sources and pipelines, then cooled into a liquid state. The gas is then compressed by approximately 600 times making it much easier to transport.

How is it used? A majority of the LNG is being shipped overseas to Europe. Once shipped, it is used for industries, electricity, home heating and other uses.

Why is LNG so hazardous?

#1. EXPLOSION RISK

LNG facilities can have uncontrolled releases of toxic and flammable fluids. These can create long-lasting fires, even flammable clouds. If these flammable clouds occur in a congested or enclosed area, they can cause massive explosions. Past explosions have required evacuations of up to a two to three mile radius

In June 2022, there was a massive explosion at an LNG facility in Freeport, Texas. View the clip below to learn more about the impact of this catastrophe and the community fighting back.

The pipelines delivering the natural gas to these facilities have also demonstrated to be extremely dangerous and explosive.

#2. HEALTH RISKS

LNG plants emit carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Studies have shown that these pollutants are associated with a range of health impacts, including headaches, coughing, dizziness, and other respiratory illnesses. They can also irritate skin, eyes, nose, and lungs.

In addition, the construction and operation of an LNG facility endangers groundwater and surface water in several ways.

Chester’s air is already being polluted by the largest incinerator in the country, a sewage waste treatment plant, a paper mill, and more. Chester’s asthma rate is five times the national average with high cancer rates. Chester does not need yet another polluting industry coming in, releasing hazardous emissions into the air, and further endangering the health of Chester residents.

#3. CLIMATE CHANGE

Cooling natural gas to a liquid state requires a a massive amount of energy. Indeed, between 8 to 10% of the natural gas at an LNG facility is typically used just to cool the natural gas. LNG terminals are major emitters of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that causes global temperatures to rise, as well as

There’s also the methane which occur at every point in the process from extraction to processing to end-uses. Leaks, flares, and intentional venting account for about fourteen percent of the climate footprint of LNG. Elevated methane levels are disastrous for climate change, giving rise to intensified floods, fires, storms, beach erosion, and energy outages.

During our current climate emergency, fossil fuels are not the answer.

Resources:

• DOWNLOAD CRCQL LNG EDUCATIONAL HANDOUT
• The Louisiana Bucket Brigade issued a report in 2023 that found LNG facilities underreport pollution events. One facility, Cameron LNG, has had an average of two accidental releases due to equipment failures each month since beginning full operations in August 2020, according to the report.
• Environmental Health Project: Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG): Health and Climate Impacts