A protest against the life-threatening pollution of the city of Philadelphia

By Steve Halpern

Last evening I attended a protest of a so-called community meeting billed as information about a cleanup of a Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. In order to explain this protest, some background information is useful.

The explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery

Several months ago there was an explosion at the largest oil refinery on the east coast, that is owned by the Philadelphia Energy Solutions Corporation. Four workers were injured because of the explosion. The explosion had so much force, that a twenty-ton piece of shrapnel flew over the Schuylkill River. The pipe that contained a potentially lethal chemical had deteriorated to the point that it was paper-thin.

This refinery used to be owned by the Sonoco Corporation. A large stockholder of Sonoco used to be the Pew family that now runs the Pew Charitable Trust.

The explosion released close to two tons of hydrogen fluoride. This is an extremely dangerous material. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, if 2.5% of a person’s body is exposed to hydrogen fluoride, this can be fatal. To treat an exposure of hydrogen fluoride, a person needs to be injected with calcium chloride. As we might imagine, few people in Philadelphia know about this reality.

One of the workers at the refinery moved the hydrogen fluoride to a safer location within two minutes of the explosion. The Inquirer reported that if this measure had not been taken, hundreds of thousands of people living in the Delaware Valley would have been exposed to this potentially lethal substance.

Since the explosion, Philadelphia Energy Solutions has closed the refinery and laid off about 600 workers. The Inquirer has reported that the ground underneath the refinery has been polluted with dangerous chemicals. Those chemicals have the potential of polluting the Delaware Valley aquifer that supplies water to millions of residents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The protest and the meeting in Point Breeze

The protest of this meeting was organized by the community organization Philly Thrive. Many people became active in this organization because of the increased numbers of deaths due to respiratory illnesses and cancer in the surrounding Point Breeze neighborhood. Several leaders of Philly Thrive spoke about their personal experiences with relatives who had cancer or respiratory illnesses.

So, why did Philly Thrive organize a protest of a so-called community meeting billed as an educational about the cleanup of the refinery?

About one month ago, I attended another so-called community meeting billed as an educational to inform people about the future of the land where the refinery is located. On the panel of that meeting were representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, the University of Pennsylvania, and the union that represents workers at the refinery.

I listened to speaker after speaker at this meeting for about ninety minutes. During that time, no one spoke about the explosion at the refinery, the workers who had been injured, or the adults and children who have suffered from respiratory illnesses or cancer. The primary topic of discussion at this meeting was how to use the land where the refinery is located in order to create profits for a corporation.

I found that discussion insulting to the people who live in Philadelphia, given the seriousness of the problems caused by the owners of the refinery. This refinery was the biggest polluter in the city. People might have died or suffered because of the pollution emitted by that refinery. Yet, all the organizers of that so-called “community meeting” could talk about was, how to generate profits for the very corporation that created this crisis.

So, when I arrived at this meeting held at a public school, Philly Thrive members encouraged people to join with them in holding placards protesting this so-called community meeting. These members told us that they made several attempts to meet with city officials in order to ensure that the land that had been used for this refinery will be made safe for the residents of this area. They were met with a wall of indifference.

Initially we blocked an entrance to the auditorium where this event was supposed to be held. Then, after about an hour the organizers of the meeting began their presentation. At this point, we entered the auditorium and discovered that the protesters greatly outnumbered those who were attending the meeting.

One of our leaders then took the microphone and gave a statement explaining why we were taking this action. Then, she invited anyone who wished to speak to take the microphone. At this time we listened to many speakers who gave us a detailed analysis of the effects this refinery has had on the Point Breeze neighborhood.

After we made our presentations, someone who organized this meeting attempted to explain his position. He argued that the meeting was about informing the public, and that he felt he represented all the people in Philadelphia.

At this point I took the microphone. I spoke about how the government has been inspecting this refinery for as long as it has been in operation. The explosion at the refinery, as well as the deaths due to respiratory diseases and cancer represent clear evidence that the government has failed to properly inspect this refinery. Any discussion that government officials have on this issue needs to start with an admission that the government shares responsibility for this disaster.  

Then, I noticed that two plain-clothed police officers were talking to an organizer of our protest. When the meeting started to break up, I went out to the hallway and noticed that there were about ten police officers lined up and ready for action.

What can we do?

What are the goals of these protests? We chanted again and again that we want clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. These demands couldn’t be more clear.

However, when we look at the operations of this refinery, and well as the indifference by the government to proper inspections, these demands appear difficult to achieve. The corporations that have owned the refinery have compromised safety. While the government claims to represent all the people, their actions clearly demonstrate that their priority is corporate profit over human needs.

The evening before I attended this protest, I viewed the new film about the life of Harriet Tubman. There was a scene in that film that I believe is relevant to this discussion and I mentioned this at the protest.

Harriet Tubman had escaped from slavery, and was planning to return to a slave plantation to free more slaves. An abolitionist warned Tubman that this was too dangerous. If she was captured she could have been tortured and or murdered.

Tubman replied that this person didn’t know what it meant to be a slave, and all the insidious horrors of that institution. The question was not whether she could or could not free slaves. The question was that this must be done.

Yes, we need to understand that a human life is a human life. Our lives are more important than money. If the government refuses to properly cleanup that refinery, then we will need a new government that has different priorities. Our lives are more important than the corporate drive for profit.