June 21 Information Session on Elcon Hazardous Waste Burner Proposal
Clean Air Council, League of Women Voters, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and concerned Bucks County residents have been following proposals to construct a hazardous waste burner in southern Bucks County for years. Elcon Recycling Services’ current proposal would boil mercury, lead and cadmium along the Delaware River, 15 miles north of Philadelphia’s water intake.
The forum is hosted by Clean Air Council and the Eco-Justice Collaborative. Speakers will describe the proposed facility, the current stage of the application process and the amazing efforts of local residents and municipalities toward denying this ill-advised proposal.
Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), The Food Trust, and Sierra Club will also be exhibiting in support of sustainable development along the Delaware River. PWD has already asked the state to reject this, “significant risk to the drinking water supply of millions of people.”
In addition to being an avoidable risk to water quality in the region, Elcon has attempted to skirt a more stringent review process necessary for major sources of smog pollution in areas that already fail federal pollution standards.
Who: Fred Stine, Citizen Action Coordinator, Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Betty Tatham, Environmental Consultant to the President, League of Women Voters of PA
Coralie Pryde, Retired Chemist, Bell Laboratories
Lisa Tordo and Lisa Farrell, buckspowa.org
When: June 21st, 7 PM
Where: Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St, Philadelphia, 19102
2016 is on pace to be yet another consecutive “hottest-year-ever.” “Elcon’s proposal ignores the increasing risk of extreme weather and sea level rise caused by climate change. To build such a unique and untested facility along a major body of water purely for tax purposes is unconscionable. The City of Philadelphia has made incredible strides in climate preparedness and pollution reduction, so let’s not throw it all away to appease chemical and pharmaceutical companies,” said Joseph Minott, Esq., Clean Air Council Executive Director
“Elcon’s wastewater treatment plant would sit half a mile from a creek that empties into the Delaware River and 15 miles away from the water intake for the City of Philadelphia. Hoping that there will be no accidents is just not an acceptable answer. Hazardous water in the Delaware River could contaminate millions who drink Philadelphia water, which is why the Water Department opposes the siting of this plant in Bucks County. We do not want this plant.”
-Walter Tsou, MD, MPH, Former Health Commissioner of Philadelphia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17th, 2016
Russell Zerbo, Clean Air Council, 215-567-4004 ext. 130, rzerbo@cleanair.org
Visit cleanair.org/stopelcon to learn more
