Protect Health with the Future Use of the Former Philadelphia Refinery
Clean Air Council is not satisfied with the City of Philadelphia’s current efforts in the aftermath of the closure of the Philadelphia refinery. City officials keep claiming there is little the city can do concerning future development at the site, yet the City was integral in the 2012 reopening of the refinery as Philadelphia Energy Solutions.
So far public pronouncements from city officials have been discouraging. They range from stating that the future use of the property will probably be another refinery to the level of soil contamination is too high to support any other type of land use besides a refinery or similar heavy industry to this is private property and therefore there is no role for the city.
It is not true. Other cities faced with the opportunity of what to do with large highly contaminated tracts of lands in their cities have seized the opportunity to work with all stakeholders including planners, builders, unions, clean energy companies, and environmental health advocates to create a vision for how best to use the land
The challenge for the city, including City Council, is not to give up on creating a vision for the use of this property but rather to help determine how can these 1,300 contaminated acres that straddles two rivers can be developed in a way that will drive economic development, increase recreation by the rivers, and improve the environmental health of the city
Please listen to the concerns of Philadelphians and become involved in supporting an inclusive visioning process that contemplates the future use of the former Philadelphia refinery. The future use of the site will have a lasting impact on public health and the increasingly destructive impacts of climate change.
