Zulene Mayfield, CRCQL, testify at PA House Environmental Committee Hearing – March 4, 2025
Chester Leaders & Health Experts testify at PA House Environmental Committee Hearing
On Tuesday, March 4 at 10am the Pennsylvanian House Environmental Resource Committee hosted a hearing at Widener University in Chester to hear from community leaders and health experts about environmental injustice and the proposed permitting reform and legislation with HB 109. Over 150 residents, community groups, and members of the public were in attendance. Recording of the hearing can be found here.
Zulene Mayfield, Chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL), was one of 7 testifiers, who spoke on the history of environmental racism and impacts of pollution on the residents of Chester. She also spoke of support for HB 109 which would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to assess cumulative impact and the ability to deny permits on those grounds. “If ever there is a community that needs protection from any increase in pollution it is Chester and others suffering. EPA nor the DEP factor in cumulative effects while issuing pollution permits. We say that given the health statistics indicating the poor health of a community that alone should be able to deny a pollution permit issuance.
Ms. Mayfield also emphasized the longevity of being overburdened by industrial pollution and knowing the impact on health, “The impact of so many polluting industries was determined to be an issue in 1995, and it is now the year 2025!! 33 years of knowing the contamination of our air, soil and bodies. Not the EPA, DEP, Health Departments, PA Legislators have done anything to stop the environmental genocide happening here.”
In Chester, residents face increased rates of cancer, respiratory illness, and other health issues. Dr. Sara N. Lupolt, an Assistant Scientist at Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, further elaborated that these health risks are exacerbated when combined with the cumulative impacts of chemical and non chemical stressors combined.
Other testifiers included Chester Mayor Stefan Roots, Dr. Kristen Motley from the Chester Health Department and other health professionals and researchers from Physicians for Social Responsibility, John Hopkins, and UPenn.
Mayor Stefan Roots used a sports analogy to describe the importance of understanding the cumulative effects of pollution. “Right now we are playing golf and it doesn’t make any sense. Golf as you know is an individual sport. Cumulative permits work like basketball, every polluter is a player on the team. At the end of the game you count up the players’ scores… we want to know how much pollution is in the air.”
Dr Motley pointed out that each member of the committee has an Environmental Justice community in their district, citing the state’s EJ Screen Tool. “Before the DEP is allowed to grant another permit near this community, we are asking you to allow them to consider the burden that is plaguing the people that live there.”
Dr. Walter Tsou from Physicians for Social Responsibility Responsibility spoke of the industrial burdens in Chester and along the Delaware River and the dire health consequences from their pollution.
For more information on Zulene Mayfield, CRCQL and how to get involved, visit ChesterPaEJ.org
Recording of the hearing can be found here.
