CHESTER, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Many residents and activists in the city of Chester are breathing a temporary sigh of relief, as plans to bring fossil fuel infrastructure to their community are put on hold.
Tracy Carluccio, with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, is one of the dozens of activists who protested against liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals being built in Chester.
“This is really important for us here in Chester and within the entire Delaware River Valley, because a liquefied natural gas facility would pollute the region and have tremendous environmental and public health impacts,” said Carluccio.
Activist Zulene Mayfield, with Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL), likened their efforts to the Biblical tale of David and Goliath. “We are really the Davids. We have brought down Goliaths and we can do it again,” she said.
“There were efforts, serious efforts to get the largest LNG on the east coast here in Chester. We have been actively educating the community, actively teaching them how to be engaged, from the education that we’ve given them, to activism to applying pressure on these people to not have it come here.”
The Biden administration recently announced a pause on approvals for LNG export terminals, which Carluccio calls a step in the right direction.
“The Department of Energy will now take a hard look at the climate impacts, the community impacts and the economic impacts of shipping liquified natural gas overseas, which is fueled by fracking development here in Pennsylvania and elsewhere,” she said.
Mayfield, meanwhile, is cautiously optimistic. “It is an election year. We are fully cognizant of that,” she admitted. “We have to gear up for when the pause comes off. We don’t know what’s going to happen but we’re not going to be complacent.”
In a statement to KYW Newsradio, the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay expressed hope for the Biden administration to move quickly through its review process.
“While the Maritime Exchange supports responsible environmental stewardship, the quality-of-life and economic benefits of regional LNG projects cannot be understated,” said Chief Administrative Officer Michael Fink.
“The Delaware Valley would directly benefit through the generation of good-paying jobs, increased personal and corporate income, greater tax revenues, and additional downstream commerce for local businesses and suppliers.”
In a joint statement, U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said: “As the second largest natural gas-producing state, this industry has created good-paying energy jobs in towns and communities across the Commonwealth and has played a critical role in promoting U.S. energy independence. While the immediate impacts on Pennsylvania remain to be seen, we have concerns about the long-term impacts that this pause will have on the thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry. If this decision puts Pennsylvania energy jobs at risk, we will push the Biden Administration to reverse this decision.”