The Battle For Clean Air Continues

By Steve Halpern

On November 21, the City Council of Philadelphia passed a resolution asking a new owner of the land that had been used as a refinery to adopt clean-energy goals. Why did City Council members vote to support this non-binding resolution?

On June 21, 2019, at about 4:00 AM there was an explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. This is the largest oil refinery on the east coast and is located in the Point Breeze section of the city. The explosion was so powerful, a 19 ton piece of shrapnel flew across the Schuylkill River. Over 5,000 pounds of lethal hydrofluoric acid leaked out of the refinery.

What was the cause of this so-called accident? An elbow pipe in the refinery, that had been installed in the 1970s, had deteriorated to the point where it was half the thickness of a credit card. This elbow pipe was made of materials that are no longer used for this application.

Within two minutes a worker at the refinery diverted the hydrofluoric acid to another location. Had this worker failed to take this action, the Philadelphia Inquirer estimated that hundreds of thousands of people might have come in contact with hydrofluoric acid. The Inquirer also estimated that when 2.5% of a human body comes in contact with this material, that exposure can be fatal.

Philly Thrive

In the year 2015, activists in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia were knocking on doors alerting residents that corporations were planning to make their neighborhood into an energy hub for natural gas. These activists learned that many of the residents of this area suffered from asthma, and cancer, as well as other life threatening conditions. Several children had died because of these ailments.

In their conversations with these residents, several community members became active and the organization Philly Thrive was born. So, for several years before the PES explosion, Philly Thrive was working to protest the environmental damage this refinery had already caused to the community. The PES refinery is the largest single polluter of toxic chemicals in the city. The entire city of Philadelphia has one of the highest rates of asthma and cancer in the nation. Philadelphia is also the poorest of the largest cities in the United States.

After the refinery explosion, meetings were held to discuss what will happen with the land owned by the now bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions Corporation. During the first meeting, after ninety minutes, no one mentioned the explosion or the children who had died of respiratory diseases in the Point Breeze neighborhood. The primary concern was how to generate a corporate profit from the land where the refinery is located.

The organizers of the second meeting attempted to have a similar agenda as the first meeting. However, Philly Thrive members felt that the lives of the community were more important than the corporate profit that had been promoted in the first meeting. So, supporters of Philly Thrive, who were the majority of those present, took over this meeting. Then, everyone was able to learn about the horrendous effects this refinery has had on the community.

City Council compromises on Philly Thrive’s demands

These were the events that prompted City Council to take some action on the PES refinery. However, at the last moment, City Council decided to compromise on the Philly Thrive demands for the use of the land where the refinery is located.

Andrew Maykuth is the Philadelphia Inquirer reporter who wrote an article on the City Council resolution. He argued that this resolution was, “an unwelcome signal to potential buyers who might revive the facility to process fossil fuels.” Maykuth’s article only mentioned the refinery explosion, and failed to mention the injuries and deaths in the Point Breeze neighborhood, or Philly Thrive. Judging from his words used in this article, Maykuth’s primary concern appears to be corporate profits.

Then, Philly Thrive supporters demonstrated in front of Philadelphia Mayor Kinney’s office. A representative of the Mayor who knew nothing about our concerns spoke with us. The Mayor eventually agreed to have a meeting with Philly Thrive, but asked that the group he would meet with include only a few members. 

Asbestos in the schools

After attending the City Council meeting on this resolution, I walked a few blocks north to the Board of Education headquarters. There, about one-hundred people attended a demonstration protesting asbestos, lead, and mold in city schools.

Speaker after speaker testified to the fact that the city knowingly allowed their children to attend schools where they were exposed to asbestos. Many in the demonstration supported the demand that Schools Superintendent Dr. William R. Hite Jr. resign.

Then, the demonstrators entered the building and attended a School Board meeting, where the question of asbestos in the schools was discussed. Dr. Hite responded to those who asked for his resignation with the following words: “its my responsibility to fix this problem that started long before I got here, but it is all of our responsibility to advocate for what young people need in Harrisburg. You can’t just come and yell at a meeting.”

Well, those who attended this meeting did in fact yell because they were justifiably enraged by the indifference of Superintendent. Dr. Hite. He has been Superintendent since 2012 and the federal government requires all school districts to report all instances where students have been exposed to asbestos. The school board refused to allow the Philadelphia Inquirer to review those records.

Lea DiRusso

Three days after this demonstration, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a front-page story about Lea DiRusso. DiRusso, is a 51 year old former Philadelphia public school teacher, who now has the asbestos created disease of mesothelioma. DiRusso worked in two Philadelphia schools for 28 years, and was exposed to asbestos in those schools.

The Johns Manville Corporation was the primary manufacturer of asbestos. Dr. Anthony Lanza gave Johns Manville his report in 1933 on workers he examined who worked with asbestos. After a period of five to ten years half of those workers contacted asbestos related diseases. Dr. Lanza worked for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

Johns Manville then went on a decades long campaign to cover-up this information. Today, Manville is still in business, but they have paid out about $5 billion in claims of people who contacted mesothelioma. Manville established this trust fund because of court decisions that made them liable for asbestos related diseases. About 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. Symptoms of this disease can take 10 to 50 years to appear. Berkshire Hathaway now owns Johns Manville.

One of the schools where Lea DiRusso worked was Meredith Elementary. This school is 90 years old and there has been asbestos in this school for all those years.

The demonstrations continue

Then, on Friday November 22, City Council had a meeting to discuss what will happen with the land where the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery is located. Several corporations have placed bids to purchase this property. A bankruptcy court will supervise the sale of the property.

Those hearings were scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM. At 9:00 AM, Phiily Thrive had a demonstration outside City Hall where we demanded clean air in the city. Then, traffic was blocked for fifteen minutes to bring attention to the health hazards that had been created by the PES refinery.

The City Council meeting began with a detailed report by the Philadelphia Government Managing Director Brian Abernathy. In his report Abernathy argued that the Philadelphia Energy Solutions Corporation contributed to Philadelphia with a substantial salary base, as well as millions of dollars in taxes.

I believe that Abernathy understands that this part of his report was a game of smoke and mirrors. Every day millions of consumers purchase gasoline for their cars and oil for their homes. The PES Corporation uses some of that money to pay their staff, upkeep of the refinery, and taxes. The rest of their income goes towards profits. All corporations that I know of make investments in order to gouge out profits.

So, when we look at economics from this perspective, it becomes clear that PES contributes absolutely nothing to Philadelphia. All of their revenue comes from the workers who create their products. Corporations learn who creates their wealth when workers go on strike. Then, corporations become aware that their valuable assets will loose millions of dollars every day when workers choose not to go to their jobs.

City Council then listened to experts who testified on all the other toxic chemicals, aside from hydrofluoric acid, that come out of the PES refinery. We listened to testimony of someone who had been infected with hydrofluoric acid. She needed to inject herself with calcium chloride to neutralize the hydrofluoric acid to prevent an amputation. She also said that most doctors are unaware of how to treat an exposure to hydrofluoric acid.

Philly Thrive members also testified about the cancer and respiratory diseases in their families in the Point Breeze section of the city. This neighborhood, located in close proximity to the refinery, and has had increased numbers of cancer and respiratory diseases for many years.

The testimony of the Steelworkers Union

We also listened to union officials who represented the 1,100 workers who were laid off by Philadelphia Energy Solutions after the explosion at the refinery. These officials asked that this facility continue to be used as a refinery. Their reasons for supporting this perspective are about saving the jobs of the union workers. They also noted that the city receives enormous tax revenues from this refinery.

The President of the Steelworkers local that represented the refinery workers testified that he was raised in the Point Breeze neighborhood. He argued that he continually did his best to ensure that the refinery operated in a way that would not endanger the workers or the neighborhood.

The facts are, that the new owners of this property will be under no obligation to hire any of the laid off refinery workers. The facts presented in this hearing underscore the fact that the diligent actions of union members have not sufficiently protected the community. PES demonstrated its contempt of the union as well as the community when they eliminated the jobs of the workers who saved Philadelphia from a disaster.

We can also think about the fact that unions are the primary organizations that forced employers to make the jobs we work at safer. In the past, thousands of workers in many of the industries of this country lost their lives in work-related accidents every year. Unions organized strikes in all the major industries to make those jobs safer. The civil rights and women’s movements also organized to improve the working conditions of Black and women workers.

Corporations in Philadelphia and the rest of the country responded to the improved conditions for workers by moving their factories to nations where the prevailing wages are between $1 and $10 per day. As a result, the overall standard of living in this country has been deteriorating for about forty years.

In the past workers could afford to support their families with one job that might require a high school diploma. Today, workers routinely have more than one job, and many feel the need to attain a masters degree. The cost for those degrees are exorbitant, and many graduates go into debt for decades.

When I was a member of the United Auto Workers Union, my union President explained his perspective. He argued that in the old days unions worked to shut the company down. Today they work to keep the factory open.

However, teachers throughout the country have gone on strikes and forced their employers to comply with their demands. A recent strike by the United Auto Workers Union won significant concessions from the General Motors Corporation.

My opinion is that unions need to return to their original methods of organizing. The majority of people in this country are a part of the working class. I believe we all might benefit by considering ourselves workers who live in the world. An injury to one is an injury to all.

I believe the former workers at the PES refinery ultimately have the same interests as the people who live in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia.  Establishing that kind of unity will be the best way to advance the battle for clean air.

Conclusion

When I look at the actions we took demanding clean air, I believe there are a few conclusions we can make. First, the future owner of the PES refinery will be primarily motivated by profit. That priority will, no doubt, undermine the safety of the workers, as well as the surrounding community.

While the city government listened to testimony concerning the dangers associated with this refinery, it is unlikely that they will take any concrete actions required to properly clean up the refinery. In fact, bankruptcy court judges usually favor the highest bid for a bankrupt corporation.

However, the actions of Philly Thrive as well as the actions of those protesting the asbestos in the schools demonstrate that we have the potential to establish an environment where the people of Philadelphia can breathe clean air.

We also see how working people all over the word are demonstrating because we are fed up with the status quo. Looking at the politics of the world from this perspective, I believe there is on inescapable conclusion. If we dare to struggle, then, we can dare to win.