A small group of Chester residents traveled to Philadelphia to protest a trash incinerator in their community.
Fox 29 reported that they gathered outside town hall in Southwest Philadelphia during Mayor Cherelle Parker's budget meeting. The protesters say the Reworld incinerator has polluted the air in Chester while leaving local families to shoulder the health consequences.
The facility is the nation's largest trash incinerator and processes about 40% of Philadelphia's waste. It burns around 3,500 tons of refuse and industrial waste per day. Chester is also a predominantly Black city that has long faced poverty and environmental burdens.
"Every night I hear the noise from the incinerator. I smell the smoke," said Eleanor Brown, who lives two blocks from the incinerator. "I have 14 homes on my block, and in those 14 homes, 12 have died of cancer."
While Chester has been forced to bear the concentration of pollution, the consequences can spread across the wider region.
"There are carcinogens that come out of there, arsenic, lead, dioxins, particulate matter — all cancer-causing agents," said Zulene Mayfield, chairperson for Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, according to Fox 29. "Right now, we have environmental genocide that is happening in our community."
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The protest comes as cities across the country reconsider how to handle waste. Burning trash may reduce volume, but residents say the burden falls on communities with fewer resources and less political power.
Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living is pushing for the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, initially introduced in 2021.
The bill would bar Philadelphia from burning its waste in Chester or elsewhere and instead require it to shift toward landfill disposal.
Advocates say that the transition should also include stronger recycling and composting programs.
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This could help reduce the amount of waste that needs processing in the first place — in addition to protecting communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by industrial pollution, facing higher rates of cancer and other health complications as a result.
"We are not going away unless we die of cancer, but until then we will always stand up for our community … stand up for our children here," Mayfield said.
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