Related
UPDATED: 10 a.m.
The organization Philly Thrive put together a bus trip to get protesters from the city's Grays Ferry neighborhood to the Big Apple. Fundraising coordinator Rachel Merriman-Goldring says it's a shame they even have to travel at all for this.
"When the public isn’t involved in decisions, the result of that is death. So, we’re gonna do a die-in, and we’re gonna show the impacts of having closed door decisions on communities," she said.
None of the bidders have been publicly announced. Neighbor Sonya Sanders says that isn’t right.
"I'm a community member also. We have been forgotten," Sanders said.
Philly Thrive members say they have lingering health concerns because of pollution from the refinery and they were ignored until the plant ignited last summer.
"It took the explosion to happen for (the city) to see how serious this is," Sanders said. She says her husband is sick, and several people she knew through the years have died because of the pollution from the refinery.
"We should fight until that refinery is closed for good, because we're not having it anymore."
Many neighbors, like Mark Clincy, say the refinery has made a lot of people they know sick, so they want to see something new and safe, focusing on renewable energy, not fossil fuels.
"We had enough of fossil fuels. So, we really don’t need another one. You can even turn it green, solar power," he said. "We’re gonna send a message to them that we’ve had enough, and we aren’t gonna take it anymore."
Bidders had until last Friday to submit a proposal.