Overview of Organizations Involved in Environmental Justice Chester City and Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Confused by who is who working on environmental justice in Delco?

Here’s a guide to the organizations involved in environmental justice issues in Chester City and Delaware County, PA.

Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL, pronounced “circle”): This group was founded by two church leaders in Chester in 1992, just after the nation’s largest waste incinerator started operating in Chester. One of them quickly backed out after the incinerator company applied pressure on the diocese in Philadelphia. The other was Reverend Horace Strand, who only lasted until 1994, parting on bad terms with the group. Strand’s co-chair, Zulene Mayfield, a Chester resident living across the street from the incinerator at the time, became chair and led the group until she burned out and left town in 2001, moving to California for many years, then settling in Wilmington, Delaware. CRCQL won many victories throughout the 1990s, with support from many outside organizations such as the Delaware Valley Toxics Coalition (Greg Shirm), Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (Jerry Balter), Environmental Background Information Center (Brian Lipsett), and Pennsylvania Environmental Network (Mike Ewall). Key victories were:

1995	ThermalPure medical waste autoclave (largest in U.S.) closed
1996-97	Soil Remediation Systems contaminated soil “burner” proposal defeated, which involved the first environmental racism lawsuit under the Civil Rights Act (a precedent later declared moot and set aside by U.S. Supreme Court)
1997	Pet crematorium proposal defeated
1997	Cherokee Biotechnology’s proposed contaminated soil plant defeated
1997	DELCORA sludge incinerator lawsuit won, requiring better emissions controls and funding of a (now defunct) Chester Lead Poisoning Prevention Project
1998	Ogborne construction/demolition waste transfer station proposal defeated
1999	Delaware State stops sending waste to Chester incinerator (efforts led by Alan Muller of Green Delaware)

The ThermalPure, Soil Remediation Systems and DELCORA victories were the result of lawsuits brought by Jerry Balter (RIP) at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia.

In 2001, when CRCQL could not financially maintain its office anymore, they closed down when Zulene left town. At the time, Mike Ewall asked Zulene who else in the group he can support once she moves on, and was told that there’s no one else left in the group and that it’s up to him to start from scratch… which he did, several times over the years.

In 2018, when Zulene resurfaced and was brought back together with Mike by a CNN reporter, Mike caught her up on many years of work and gradually roped her back into the work. Mike provided access to thousands of concerned area residents via his email lists, shared the Chester Environmental Justice Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (since stolen by CRCQL), hosted and often coordinated regular Zoom meetings from October 2020 through November 2022 for the group at-large plus several committees, set up a website and calendars, gave public presentations, got a CRCQL banner printed, provided extensive research and strategy development, drafted Zero Waste resolutions that were passed in six municipalities in 2021, provided fiscal sponsorship for CRCQL and secured $70K in grants for CRCQL and (uncompensated) did most of the work to fulfill those grants, and much more to get CRCQL back on its feet and to build the successful campaign that moved Delaware County and its Solid Waste Authority to transition from incineration to Zero Waste.

Since late 2022, despite a history of friendship and collaboration and being called the “king and queen of Chester’s environmental justice movement,” Mike and Zulene no longer work together and both are continuing the work through different organizations and strategies.

Campus Coalition Concerning Chester (C4): C4 grew out of a one-day student conference held at Swarthmore College on February 24, 1996. It was organized by Zulene Mayfield and Maurice Sampson along with student organizers involved in the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC). In his senior year of undergrad, Mike Ewall attended and named the group (deliberately after an explosive), bringing six years of student and community organizing from his experience with a local incinerator fight in Bucks County that he first fought while in high school, and subsequent years of work with Pennsylvania Environmental Network and SEAC.

C4 grew to include 15 college campuses in five states and organized protests against the PA Department of Environmental Protection in Harrisburg on Earth Day, and in Pittsburgh at the headquarters of RRZ, the Pittsburgh-based holding company that was behind the cluster of major waste facilities on Chester’s west end. C4 students testified at public hearings, raised money for CRCQL, and raised Chester’s profile so that PA DEP officials would hear from students about Chester all over the state. After a few years, C4 fell apart as students graduated, but in 2019, Mike began rebuilding student interest to revive C4, which got a slow start, but is now active again at Swarthmore College and has sometimes involved students at a few other area universities.

Energy Justice Network: Energy Justice is a national organization based in Philadelphia that works hand-in-hand with its member groups to stop dirty energy and waste industry facilities and to transition to clean energy and zero waste systems. The group was founded in 1999 by Mike Ewall, who first supported Zulene and CRCQL in 1994 while he was with Pennsylvania Environmental Network, a state-wide group similar to what Energy Justice Network now does. Since Zulene’s departure from the state in 2001, Mike has prioritized Chester more than any community in the nation, supporting efforts to prevent toxic industries from continuing to threaten Chester. He leads toxic tours of the Delaware County waterfront, and has elevated Chester’s profile for decades on the regional and national stage.

Mike made possible the reorganizing efforts described below with DelCo Alliance for Environmental Justice, Chester Green, Chester Environmental Justice, and Chester Clean Air, and supported the work of Eddystone Residents for Positive Change. He also led Energy Justice Network’s effort to stop the City of Philadelphia from contracting to burn trash in Chester, speaking up in 2012, and more forcefully in 2019, with 41 groups in support, and landed the first Philly City Council hearing on the city’s use of incineration in October 2023.

He raised the funds that enabled the hiring of multiple Chester residents as community organizers since 2011. This made possible the organizing of the Chester Green youth group and the opposition to building the soccer stadium on a toxic waste site, which resulted in some additional air monitoring during the construction. In 2003, he led the organizing effort against the Clean Metal, LLC project that spread toxic incinerator ash into the air while pulled metals out of Covanta’s incinerator ash for recycling until it was closed in 2005. In 2007-2008, he led the effort that blocked the Israeli company, Koach Energy, from building the world’s largest tires-to-oil refinery in Chester. In 2014, he exposed the plan to bring 2-3 decades of New York City trash to Chester by train and nearly stopped the city from authorizing it. His work on Delaware County waste policy since 2018 led to the county hiring the nation’s best team of Zero Waste consultants, and working with them to develop a Zero Waste Plan guiding the county to end its use of incineration for its waste. He authored the Zero Waste Resolutions that six municipalities adopted in 2021, helping create the political conditions for this.

Laborers International Union Local 413: LIU members intervened at critical times when new polluting projects were threatening Chester. In 2001, they crashed a hearing by the PA Department of Environmental Protection to protest plans by the Kimberly-Clarke Tissue Corporation’s paper mill in Chester to burn tires for fuel. Ultimately, DEP denied the permit for this, after DEP allowed a test burn that showed an astronomical 4,140% increase in dioxins/furans when burning just 4-8% tires in their mix. Later, in 2003, union members crashed another DEP hearing, shutting it down after chanting “hell no, we don’t want it” over and over until DEP gave up holding the hearing. This was for the Clean Metal, LLC plan to get a permit for the recycling of metals from Covanta’s incinerator ash, which they were already doing, but stopped once DEP granted a permit with conditions they couldn’t meet.

Chester Environmental Partnership: CEP was formed in 2005 by Rev. Horace Strand, a Boothwyn resident who preaches at Faith Temple Holy Church in Chester. This group came together through the guidance of Alice Wright, who was DEP’s first environmental advocate for their southeast regional office, a position the agency created in response to being sued for environmental racism. Since the start, meetings are held during the work-day and attendees are typically industrial polluters, government agency officials, and a sprinkling of academics and nonprofit representatives, with no real community involvement and without average community members invited. Since 2006, the city’s #1 industrial air polluter, the Covanta trash incinerator, has been funding CEP, with an initial agreement for $30,000 per year to go to the group, and other projects where Rev. Strand has a hand in directing the funds. Rev. Strand and CEP have repeatedly sung the praises of Covanta since, giving them awards, and having them sponsor various activities. Mike Ewall was invited to be founding member of CEP and participated with the later bestowed title of “environmental chair,” attended meetings until removed in January 2008 for speaking the truth to a reporter about how CEP was not a real grassroots environmental justice group. [Mike’s tenure with CEP is marked in blue in the chart above.] It wasn’t until after being removed that Ewall unearthed documentation showing that Covanta funds CEP. Read more about Chester Environmental Partnership.

DelCo Alliance for Environmental Justice: In 2007, the Israeli company, Koach Energy, came to the city seeking to build the world’s largest tires-to-oil refinery in Chester. The city told the company to seek the approval of Chester Environmental Partnership. When they did, Mike Ewall was still the environmental chair (in name only) and he drafted 90 questions for the company to answer, which they did. Understanding the technology to be dangerous, and knowing that CEP was not about to confront an industrial polluter, Ewall helped concerned residents form DelCo Alliance for Environmental Justice, bringing together residents of Chester plus allies from throughout Delaware County. Students were engaged. A film screening was held. Chester residents got the county Democratic Party to adopt a resolution opposing the plan. In response, the Republican mayor of Chester wrote a strongly-worded letter saying that Koach Energy was not welcome in the city, stopping the project within just six months. DelCo Alliance members also canvassed Chester residents on the west end near the incinerators, and found out that many did not want to be relocated. These residents were surprised to learn that Rev. Strand was trying to get industry to fund a relocation, buying their properties, potentially even using eminent domain to force them out – all without consulting or involving the residents because Strand did not want to get their hopes up. One resident interviewed expressed that they had already been evicted from Philadelphia via eminent domain and did not want to be evicted again.

In 2023, we started to reorganize using the name Delco Environmental Justice. We are focused on winning the closure of both the trash and sewage sludge incinerators in Chester, and getting the county to finalize a strong Zero Waste Plan. We’re also supporting new efforts by residents of Chester to stop a filthy crematory in their residential neighborhood.

NOTE: the Facebook page bearing our name is not us. The page was initially called Chester Environmental Justice and was started by Mike Ewall for that organizing effort in 2014 (see below). It was shared with CRCQL as they reorganized starting in 2020. When CRCQL chose to start their own new page in February 2023, Mike renamed it Delco Environmental Justice to avoid confusion and to carry forward our work, but in December 2023, CRCQL used their access to the page to steal it, keeping our name on it while adding theirs.

Chester Green: this youth group grew out of the high school youth organizing that Energy Justice Network got funded through a national student and youth climate group they co-founded called Energy Action Coalition. With that financial support, a dynamic young organizer in Chester brought together youth she worked with and engaged several of them in this group effort. One of those high schoolers later became the head of a national student activist group working for zero waste!

Eddystone Residents for Positive Change: the first community organizing against polluters in Eddystone Borough as long as we’ve known started not when a major new gas-fired power plant located there in 2002, but when Camden Iron & Metal sought to build a scrapyard on the site abandoned by Foamex when they shut their toxic polyurethane foam factory down (to expand their site in Indiana). Word at the time was that Camden Iron & Metal would be closing their scrapyards in South Philadelphia, Camden, and Trenton and relocating to one large site in Eddystone. Residents spoke out against this and failed to move the borough government at the time, but the proposal died a quiet death, anyway, shortly after.

Chester Environmental Justice: In June 2013, Mike Ewall heard from a community activist in Niagara Falls about a proposed 700+ page waste contract for Manhattan trash to be brought by rail to Covanta’s incinerators in Chester and Niagara Falls for 20-30 years. After trying unsuccessfully to address this with waste activists in New York City, and with Chester’s mayor at the time (John Linder), Mike heard from a Chester City Planning Commission member in mid-2014 about a plan for a rail box building at Covanta’s site and recognized the connections immediately. After alerting residents in Chester, Mike worked with them to reorganize under this new banner. Mike put together the research and presented to the Planning Commission, winning a 5-0 vote that recommended for city council to vote it down. Residents distributed 5,000 flyers throughout Chester City and packed city hall twice, standing room only. However, city council, after promising a hearing and for the vote to be held in an evening meeting, not the normal 10am council meeting times, city council – with encouragement from then State Representative Thaddeus Kirkland – voted unanimously to ignore their Planning Commission and approve the plan. Rev. Strand was present, but chose not to speak up during packed city council meetings, though he spoke separately to media reporters and was quoted in the press as supporting Covanta’s plan. He helped try to sell the community on the idea that it’s better to have NYC trash come by train instead of truck. However, what happened is that Chester now gets both for the same waste, which travels through Chester by train to Wilmington, Delaware, where it’s transloaded onto trucks to be trucked into Chester. The blue rail boxes piled up inside of Covanta’s Front & Highland property are that Manhattan trash.

Marcus Hook Area Neighbors for Public Health: This project of Clean Air Council focuses on the petrochemical complex in Marcus Hook Borough, Trainer Borough, and nearby municipalities such as Lower and Upper Chichester that are impacted by these industries.

Chester Clean Air: in 2020, Lewis M. Hunt-Irving Funeral Home was permitted by Chester City’s Zoning Hearing Board to build a crematory for humans and pets in a residential neighborhood in the city. Residents spoke up against it and were ignored at the time. Since built, it has received numerous violations and has been documented belching filthy black smoke into the community. In 2024, with support from Delco Environmental Justice and from Mike Ewall at Energy Justice Network, the community is starting to meet and organize to get this crematory closed.