Philadelphia City Council has a chance in September to improve air quality, reduce environmental injustice, and move the City in a healthier direction.
Last week, the City announced plans to award Reworld Sustainable Solutions a contract to burn about one-third of the City’s trash in Chester and Conshohocken. Before the contract can take effect, City Council must approve legislation authorizing the agreement when it reconvenes on September 17.
That means there is still time for City Council to reject a proposal that would lock Philadelphia into at least four more years of sending its trash to one of the largest waste incinerators in the country.
For decades, Chester residents have lived alongside a major concentration of industrial pollution. In addition to the Reworld waste incinerator, a massive sewage incinerator and several other polluting industrial facilities line the waterfront. This has made Chester a national example of environmental racism, where a predominantly Black community is burdened with the pollution that benefits nearby municipalities.
There are also serious concerns about Reworld’s environmental record. In June, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection cited Reworld for not checking incoming waste for radiation and for burning unapproved wastes.
The City does not have to do business with this company. Other disposal options are available. Under the proposed contract, most of Philadelphia’s waste would still go to landfills operated by Republic Services and Waste Management. It’s a misconception that Pennsylvania is running out of landfill space. The Commonwealth has one of the largest landfill systems in the country, with many facilities on track to remain open for years to come.
The environmental impacts extend beyond Chester. Air pollution doesn’t stop at municipal borders.
The City of Philadelphia claims that waste incinerators and landfills have roughly equal greenhouse gas emissions, but that’s due to a gap in federal reporting requirements. Waste incinerators are only required to report one-third of their carbon dioxide emissions because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assumes that two-thirds of the waste stream is paper products and equates the incineration of paper with the organic decomposition of trees.
Even without debating whether industrial incineration is the same as biodegrading, the contents of the waste stream are largely unknown. Reworld only inspects about 5 percent of the trucks entering the incinerator.
The environmental impacts extend beyond Chester. Air pollution doesn’t stop at municipal borders.
This week, we were reminded of this. Extreme heat combined with wildfire smoke from Canada and a scrapyard fire at the Philadelphia-Delaware County line created unhealthy air across the region, only weeks after a fire at Monroe Energy’s refinery in Trainer.
Our region has failed to meet the EPA’s 2015 ground-level ozone standard for more than a decade. Philadelphia and Delaware County rank among PA’s highest counties for asthma-related hospitalizations, particularly in children. While no single source is to blame, continuing to send thousands of tons of trash to be burned only adds to the public health burden.
Philadelphia can’t control wildfire smoke drifting south from Canada and it can’t get rid of every refinery and industrial facility overnight. But it can choose where its trash goes.
With a few pen strokes in September, City Council can choose not to send our trash to be incinerated in a city that has become a national symbol of environmental racism. By rejecting this contract, City Council can reduce air pollution, support environmental justice, and show that Philadelphia is serious about protecting the health of communities within and beyond its borders.
Russell Zerbo is an advocate at the non-profit Clean Air Council and can be reached at rzerbo@cleanair.org.
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