NO LNG in Delaware County, PA!
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. It would be the largest LNG export facility on the East Coast.
LNG facilities are extremely dangerous, polluting and will have devastating impacts on community health and well being, including reduced property values.
Since 2017, 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.
While a location in Chester is being considered, Penn America has been considering other locations like Eddystone. In an April op-ed, Senator McCormick mentioned the Penn America project being located in Eddystone.
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 and China. Once shipped, it is used for industries, electricity, and other uses. A primary usage of this LNG will be used to manufacture plastics.
European activists and leaders like Svitlana Romanko from Ukraine and German Chancellor Lisa from Germany visited Chester in 2024 and are equally concerned about LNG export and import.
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.
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.
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 up in protest. CRCQL has also held multiple community meetings to educate residents of this threat. While the Biden administration put a pause on new LNG permits in February 2024, the Trump administration reversed that pause with an executive decision, and has made it clear that they want LNG export terminals on the East Coast. The fight against LNG is more important than ever.
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, coughing, dizziness, and other respiratory illnesses. 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 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
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?
The threat of LNG is more imminent than ever, so the need to organize against it is more urgent than ever as well. Here are some steps you can take to join the fight to protect our communities:
- Join CRCQL. Go here to sign up and here to see our calendar for information on biweekly meetings, hearings, and other events. 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
Resources:
- Slides from 4/5/2025 LNG Community Meeting
- Download CRCQL LNG 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
- C4 Instagram Posts:
