Liquified Natural Gas Plant Proposal Draws Protests In Delaware County

CHESTER, PA — A proposed plan for a liquified natural gas processing plant in Delaware County was met by protests Tuesday.

Chester and other Southeastern Pennsylvania residents joined Tuesday morning to protest a plan by the Philadelphia LNG Export Task Force to promote a liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing plant and export terminal in the Delaware River Ports.

People rallied outside the hearing room on the Widener University campus at Lathem Hall in Chester where the task force met Tuesday morning, and then joined the Task Force hearing to support community representatives who were testifying on their behalf.

Zulene Mayfield, chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living and Stefan Roots, Chester City Council member and Democratic mayoral candidate for the City of Chester, spoke for those that would be impacted by an LNG facility.

"There can be no decisions about us, without us," Mayfield said. "We call on all legislators from Delaware County to protect the people of Delco and oppose Penn America LNG!"

Members of the public were also allowed to testify as the pre-arranged roster was set behind closed doors by the Task Force, according to the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

At the prior April Hearing the public was turned away from even entering the hearing, ostensibly due to capacity limits of the room, and the speakers who were prepared to testify were rejected last minute, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network said.

No one from the Delaware County government was invited to Tuesday's hearing, officials said.

"It is confusing and concerning that a Task Force specifically formed to review locating an LNG terminal at the Port of Philadelphia is holding a hearing in Chester in the first place, but it is disappointing that the Task Force has apparently expanded its purview to look at sites in Chester without any public notice and while excluding officials from the County and the public," Delaware County Council Member Kevin Madden said.

The Chester location was chosen by the task force for the hearing because it is a likely location of the terminal and is the only place in the Delaware River Ports where a company has publicly stated plans to build one, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network said.

A press conference after the hearing included organizations from Southeastern Pennsylvania, State Rep. Joseph Hohenstein, who is an appointed member of the Task Force, State Rep. Carol Kazeem, who represents Chester and parts of Delaware County, and people who testified or were supposed to testify – including Mayfield, Stefan Roots, Earl Wilson and Shawmar Pitts.

"My duty as a legislator is to hear all constituent concerns across the 159th district, both by those who may voice concern towards the LNG project as well as those who may support the notion," Kazeem said. "My goal is to ensure that these task force meetings are as transparent as possible, with hopes that this transparency will keep the local community appropriately informed. I already testified at a prior task force meeting a few months ago in Philadelphia and voiced my concerns regarding what an LNG Export terminal would look like in my district. It is clear that abundant questions still remain as to what the project would look like and how it would impact the City of Chester,"

"This Task Force is authorized by the legislature and paid for by the taxpayers of Pennsylvania," Hohenstein said. "As we conduct the people's business we have a duty to make certain that all voices are heard and all the facts developed. I do not believe we have done our duty because we are not truly lifting up all voices and the process is more opaque than transparent so the facts remain shrouded."

"There is no place for an LNG facility anywhere in the Delaware River port region," said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network." We are united here today with the communities of Chester, the Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living and other southeastern Pennsylvania groups who are saying 'no way' to this reckless proposal to put a highly polluting and explosive industry where people live and work. The intolerable air pollution and the safety dangers posed by liquefied natural gas make our entire region off limits. The LNG Task Force has the wrong idea at the wrong place and the wrong time; we need clean and safe jobs that leave dirty energy in the past."

Written comments can be submitted by the public to the Task Force at Mrosenberger@pahousegop.com.

The deadline for comments has not been publicly stated by the Task Force.