Chester

Background

Chester, Pennsylvania, is the place where William Penn first landed in Pennsylvania. Chester is located along the Delaware River, just south of Philadelphia. The population in Chester is 74% Black, with 33% of the population living below the poverty line. Over the last 50 years, Chester has experienced a large number of pollution emitting sources contributing to health disparities.

Hazard Profile

Chester’s unprecedented number of industrial polluting facilities include a trash incinerator, a sewage treatment plant, oil refineries, and more. There are 11 industries that emit carcinogens in Chester; some emitting tens of thousands of pounds of carcinogens every year. Solid waste from a large geographic area of Pennsylvania, as well as New York and Baltimore, are incinerated in Chester. Raw sewage and associated sludge from 46 municipalities in Philadelphia, Delaware, and Chester Counties are treated in Chester. Chester residents experience the air pollution from about 100,000 vehicles traveling on interstate highway I-95 every day.

Many Chester residents live in very old housing stock, which may lead to exposure to poor indoor air quality, lead, mold, pesticides, and safety concerns. Chester residents express concerns about the health effects of living and working amid toxic substances, and complain about frequent illness, which they perceive as likely associated with environmental factors. Chester has among the highest age-adjusted mortality and incidence rates for leukemia, and cancers of the prostate, lung, and trachea and has the highest infant mortality rate in Pennsylvania. In addition, Chester has twice the rate of asthma as the PA state level.

The map below shows the annual emissions of criteria air pollutants by industries in and around Chester and the average daily traffic on roadways in the area.

CEC Activities

The CEC is a founding member of the Chester Environmental Partnership. We continue to provide environmental health expertise on various health and environmental justice issues. Our activities include programming engaging community members in environmental health issues, community engaged data collection and research, and discussions with industry and regulatory agencies on permit violations and policies that influence public health risk for vulnerable populations in the community.

Working Together with CEP to Reduce Pollution

The CEC is working with the Chester Environmental Partnership to evaluate the risks of proposed liquified natural gas (LNG) plants in Chester. Chester residents are concerned about fugitive methane emissions resulting in extreme heat and exacerbating climate change and the potential explosion hazard. Citing an LNG export facility in or near Chester would increase risks to an already environmentally overburdened community. The CEC provided written testimony to the Philadelphia LNG Task Force describing these environmental health and safety risks.

Photo of Dr. Strand speaking in Chester, PA

Save Your Soles

Diabetes can lead to poor circulation of extremities, and if left untreated could lead to amputation. Black males suffer major lower extremity amputations almost four times as often as white males in the Delaware Valley. To address this problem, the CEC has worked with podiatrist Dr. Ron Renzi, founder of Save Your Soles, a campaign aimed at reducing lower extremity amputation by community education and screening. For 10 years, Save Your Soles has been held annually at Chester City Hall. This event includes podiatric foot evaluations (Dr. Renzi), blood pressure and glucose screening, education on nutrition, diabetes management (Chester DOH), and environmental health (CEC). Amputation rates have fallen in Chester over the last 10 years.

Community Engaged Neighborhood Air Monitoring

Through our engagement with the Chester Environmental Partnership, we have heard community concerns about air pollution over many years. The CEC collected pilot data in Chester neighborhoods and identified wide variations in air pollutant levels on different days and times. The CEC partnered with then CEET researcher Peter DeCarlo (now at the Johns Hopkins EHS CC), the PA DEP Air Monitoring Division, and the Delaware County Planning Department to apply for an ARP Enhanced Air Quality Competitive Grant to explore neighborhood air pollution further. This grant was awarded to the DEP and will fund the installation of monitors in local neighborhoods in Chester to gather air quality data.

The CEC working with the Delaware County Planning Department will engage the residents around health issues and the data and its implications. The CEC has been involved in the planning of where the monitors should be placed in the community and in designing community engagement materials.

Our Partnerships in Chester

Chester Environmental Partnership

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Delaware County Planning Department

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Delaware County Health Department

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Save Your Soles Podiatry

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CEC Resources

Explore our resources to find helpful information and programs relevant to the Chester community. View our Community Resources page to view all our resources.