Earlier this month, an international group of frontline leaders and climate change activists led by Zulene Mayfield, Chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (Chester), and including Roishetta Ozane, Founder, Director, and CEO of the Vessel Project of Louisiana (Louisiana), Svetlana Romanko, Founder and Director of Razom We Stand (Ukraine), and Tracy Carluccio of Delaware Riverkeepers Network, held a press conference to discuss the potential impact of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and how this volatile fossil fuel is negatively affecting communities all over the world.
There’s little doubt about the connection between climate change and the fossil fuel industry and even less doubt that the placement of these facilities in underserved communities is intentionally racist. If it wasn’t racist, these companies would equally establish themselves in wealthier Caucasian communities.
Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) processing pollutes waters and air, releases methane gas into the atmosphere, and causes asthma, epilepsy, cancer, and countless other diseases, leaving underserved communities barren, people ill, and cities devastated, all while exporting it across the oceans, as energy prices are steadily increasing in the U.S., leaving our citizens struggling to breath and pay winter heating cost.
Before the press conference, Mayfield hosted a tour through the neighborhoods of Chester directly affected by climate change, industrial waste, and toxic sludge. The tour, which Mayfield has dubbed “The Toxic Tour,” took guests through neighborhoods where homes had fallen into disrepair because of the toxicity generated by the trash to the steam plant. Industrial waste has rendered the properties irredeemable because homeowners can’t live in the neighborhood due to the potential health risk and can’t sell because of the condition of the properties or the amount of the taxes owed.
Romanko said, “One of the reasons I’m here is they’re purporting the lie that Ukraine needs LNG. This is absolute. Ukraine doesn’t need nor want LNG.” “I don’t know why everyone is trying to manipulate this on behalf of Ukraine, saying we need LNG imported from the United States. We didn’t need it before the war, nor did ask for it. We have our own gas for our own needs, so we are not importing gas at all, including from the United States. Yes, we do import electricity, but it’s mostly from the European Union., which was not made after the gas. We are totally against LNG and would like to know how you’re handling LNG in your communities.”
According to Mayfield, a was formed in direct response to the community’s needs once the trash-to-steam plant came to Chester following a massive flood in 1971, resulting in the deaths of 12 people and at least 400 families driven from their homes. “There was no remediation done in the wake of that flood, so it still floods here, especially on a rainy day such as this,” said Mayfield.
“We’re fighting for environmental justice because these facilities in communities across our nation are causing our youth to have all kinds of mental health crises, and the police don’t even know how to handle them,” said Ozane.
Chester Mayor Stefan Roots expressed his gratitude to the activists for coming to the City of Chester to spread awareness on the issues of climate change, LNG, and the harm that it causes our communities. “It’s my pleasure to attend an event that brings together activists from around the country and the world to convene in the great City of Chester to discuss an issue that’s of immense importance to us all,” said Roots.
In a city that is home to Widener University, Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack, Subaru Park home to Philadelphia’s Major League Soccer team, the Philadelphia Union, the oldest continually operational Courthouse in the United States, and the William Penn Original Landing site, you’d think that elected officials would be a little more judicious as to where they allow companies to place these facilities. Oh, maybe that’s a moot point because people only visit these places and to Chester residents, “This is Home!”
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