NO LNG in Delaware County!
Delaware County’s riverfront is currently being targeted as the site of a potential LNG (liquified natural gas) export facility, a $7+ billion, 60+ acre project proposed by Penn America to process 1 billion cubit feet of gas daily to export overseas. LNG export terminals are massive and typically located on the coast and away from densely populated areas. This would be the largest LNG export facility on the East Coast, located on a highly trafficked river, and sandwiched between residential areas.
LNG facilities are extremely dangerous, polluting and will have devastating impacts on community health and well being, including reduced property values.
Since 2016, Penn America’s CEO Franc James has been working quietly behind the scenes to garner support for this project, meeting with local elected officials and trying to make in-roads with the community. While the Biden administration’s pause on LNG permits in 2023 slowed progress, the Trump administration reversed that pause in 2025 and is moving to push these types of projects forward.
Whats the status? Penn America is considering Chester City or Eddystone as potential site locations. In an April 2025 op-ed, Senator McCormick mentioned the Penn America project being located in Eddystone. As of May 2025, no permits have been filed that we are aware of. A coalition of regional organizations has several right to know requests out and is actively monitoring the situation.
Upcoming Info Meetings:
- No LNG Info Session in Eddystone: Tuesday, June 17 6-8pm at John Hughes Memorial Hall – 1112 E 7th St, Eddystone, PA 19022
- No LNG in Delco – Virtual Info Meeting: Tuesday, June 24 at 6pm: Register here.
What is LNG?
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is an odorless and colorless form of natural gas. Once extracted and moved through pipelines, natural gas is cooled and compressed into a liquid state. It is cooled to -260 F and compressed by approximately 600 times making it much easier to transport, and more explosive.
How is it used? A majority of the LNG is being shipped overseas to Europe. Once shipped, it is used for industries, electricity, plastics manufacturing and other uses. European activists and leaders like Svitlana Romanko from Ukraine and German Chancellor Lisa from Germany visited Chester in 2024 about their concerns about LNG from the import side, and growing movement in their countries away from fossil fuels.
Where would it be located?
After being rejected by Philadelphia, Penn America has had it’s eyes on a 60-acre site at 800 W. Front St for a $6.4 billion plant in Chester. Due to strong community opposition in Chester, the company may be looking at Eddystone as a potential location. Below are the renderings from Penn America’s 2016 proposal.
Penn America mentioned in an interview with WHYY in Feb. 2024 his intent to build an export terminal in Chester. Senator McCormick specifically mentioned the location of Eddystone in an op-ed he wrote in April 2025. There is not a suitable location for a facility of this magnitude in either municipality, or anywhere along the Delaware river in Delaware County.
False Promises:
Delco residents will not benefit from the proposed jobs that Penn America says it will create. LNG operators require years of experience at similar facilities. These projects often contract out staffing from other areas of the United States.
This project will not benefit our energy independence! All of the gas will be exported overseas for private profit, while Pennsylvanians bear all the harm and risk.
Why is LNG so hazardous?
#1. EXPLOSION RISK
Liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities can have uncontrolled releases of odorless and flammable gas due to equipment leaks or the liquid getting hotter than -260 F. Failures are especially a concern since cooled liquid LNG can weaken metals (embrittlement). Gas released from LNG expands rapidly (reversing the 600 times compression) and can easily be carried downwind in clouds. In confined spaces, the gas can cause suffocation and explosion. If at any point it contacts ignition (spark, fire, static electricity), it can create a massive fiery explosion. Past explosions have required evacuations of up to a two to three mile radius. The pipelines and vehicles delivering the natural gas and LNG have also demonstrated to create dangerous fires and explosions.
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.
#2. HEALTH RISKS
Besides the immediate dangers of fire and explosion, LNG plants pollute the air by emitting carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Studies have shown that these pollutants are associated with a range of health impacts, including headaches, respiratory illnesses, cancer, and other ailments. They can also irritate skin, eyes, nose, and lungs. The boats and trucks used to transport natural gas and LNG will also emit methane, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone, and particulate matter.
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. Below is cancer data from Chester and Eddystone. Rates of cancer are up to 247% higher that national averages for areas of Delco. Delaware County does not need yet another polluting industry coming in, releasing hazardous emissions into the air, and further endangering the health of residents!
*Contact [email protected] with questions about the People’s Cancer Incidence Screening Tool (PCIST).
#3. CLIMATE CHANGE
LNG is primarily made of methane drill from the earth. Therefore methane, an 86 times stronger greenhouse gas than CO2, is produced at every point in the process from extraction, to transport, to processing, to end-uses through leaks, intentional or not. LNG facilities use venting and flaring to prevent pressure build up in an emergency, though facilities often do it in non-emergencies. Just the equipment used to liquefy natural gas accounted for over 2 million tons of methane released in the US in 2017. And if LNG continues to expand, according to the Environmental Integrity Project, the new LNG terminals could emit 90 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.
LNG is also an energy intensive process due to its pressure and temperature needs. Between 8-10% of the natural gas at an LNG facility is typically used just to cool the natural gas. During our current climate emergency, fossil fuels are not the answer.
What can you do?
- Sign up for our action alerts! Click here to sign up. Learn how we engage with the community and lend us your support!
- Write an op-ed. Letters to the editor are crucial methods of bringing issues to the attention of the public and legislators. Follow this guide to get started and make a massive impact on the fight against LNG.
- Contact your representatives. Calling your elected representatives is an important way of making sure your voice is heard. Use this script to tell them to oppose LNG.
- Talk to people about LNG. Talk to your friends, your family, and your neighbors about the threat LNG poses to our communities and loved ones, here and now. Don’t let polluting industries enter our communities without resistance.
- If you are interested in getting a “NO LNG” lawn sign, please contact [email protected] or (484) 402-7530
- Contact [email protected] or call 484-402-7530 with any questions.
Resources:
- No LNG in Delco Handout – May 2025
- Slides from 4/5/2025 LNG Community Meeting
- Download CRCQL LNG in Chester – March 2025 Educational Handout
- EarthJustice “PA Government Transparency Process Guideline” Fall 2024
- 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
- Physicians for Social Responsibility White Paper on LNG Risks
In August 2023, the Pennsylvania 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 up in protest. CRCQL has also held multiple community meetings to educate residents of this threat. View their final report here.
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