Philadelphia could reshape how it disposes trash as Chester residents raise health concerns

Philadelphia City Council is considering a proposal that could reshape how the city disposes of its trash, and how that process affects a neighboring community.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier has introduced a bill that would ban the city from sending waste to an incinerator in Chester, where Delaware County residents have long raised concerns about health impacts.

Along the banks of the Delaware River sits the Reworld incinerator, one of the largest facilities of its kind in the country. It burns thousands of tons of Philadelphia's trash each day.

Zulene Mayfield, chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, said the effects are impossible to ignore.

"Ultimately, anybody that breathes should be concerned with this," Mayfield said.

She and other residents describe persistent odors from trash, burning materials and diesel trucks transporting waste to the facility.

"You could smell the trash, you could smell the burning, you could smell the diesel from the trucks," Mayfield said.

Her organization has been pushing to end the city's decades-long practice of sending waste to Chester for incineration. Mayfield pointed to a 1995 Environmental Protection Agency risk assessment that she said found elevated rates of cancer, heart disease, asthma and other health conditions in the area.

"The health issues, you cannot debate them," she said. "We've got a community that's dying."

Tensions over the issue were evident earlier this week during a City Council hearing, where demonstrators loudly coughed as lawmakers debated the bill. Council President Kenyatta Johnson warned attendees not to disrupt proceedings.

Gauthier said her proposal is backed by a recent study commissioned by Delaware County that found trash incineration is significantly more harmful than landfilling. 

"It showed that burning trash at the incinerator in Chester is 69% worse for the climate than landfilling," Gauthier said, "and that it is 23 times as harmful for all other public health and environmental measures combined."

City officials, however, say eliminating incineration would come at a financial cost. The Department of Sanitation estimates it would cost Philly an additional $6.5 million annually to stop sending waste to the facility.

Carlton Williams, director of the city's Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, said officials are still reviewing multiple studies before making a final decision.

"There are multiple studies that we need to review before we make a decision as to whether we should eliminate it or ultimately continue to use it altogether," Williams said.

Potential alternatives include expanding recycling and composting programs or transporting waste to more distant landfills — options that could further increase costs for taxpayers.

Philly's current incineration contract with Reworld is set to expire at the end of June.