Good decision by borough council on waste
To the Editor,
On March 8, Swarthmore Borough Council made a decision I didn’t necessarily expect: one that could dramatically change the way our community handles its waste. Resolution 2021-04 was submitted by Jennifer Pfluger, an associate member of Swarthmore’s Environmental Advisory Council who also teaches environmental studies at Swarthmore College. The resolution requests Delaware County Council to ensure that the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority not extend its contract with the Covanta waste incinerator in Chester. The resolution also calls on the county to take steps to support municipalities like Swarthmore in developing their own zero-waste policies. (You can read the details of the resolution at the borough website under the agenda for the March 8 council meeting.)
More than a dozen public comments were made, including one by me, all in support of the resolution. I see it as a welcome step in Swarthmore’s taking a stand against environmental racism. For 30 years, the Covanta plant has been spewing air pollutants from burning not only Delaware County’s trash, but also trash from Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.
I’m excited to see Swarthmore being open to new understandings about environmental matters and willing to change decisions about “the way we’ve always done things.”
Would Chester lose jobs if the Covanta plant closed as a result of communities rejecting their model? Covanta admits that only eight of its salaried positions are held by Chester residents. Will Chester City be affected by losing the $1.4 million that Covanta pays them on behalf of Delaware County? That could be made up if each resident of Delaware County were asked to pay $3.50 per year. That is hardly enough to reimburse Chester for the decades of pollution that have given Chester’s children asthma at five times the national rate. And the lead and other noxious pollutants in Chester’s air could be a contributing factor in children’s cognitive abilities and levels of aggression.
As I said at the meeting, if it were our children suffering, would we even hesitate? Chester City Council candidate Stefan Roots, who lives in Chester, attended the council meeting and said he wished that Chester residents could have witnessed all the voices calling for them to be made whole.
I’m eager to see how Swarthmore and surrounding communities will take up the challenge to move towards zero waste. It involves several steps: rethinking/redesign, reduction, reuse, recycling and composting, material recovery, biological treatment, and, finally, stabilized landfilling as a last resort.
I have taken a tour of the Covanta plant, and it seriously altered the way I feel about buying anything that could end up there, especially packaging. I welcome initiatives that will allow us all to create less waste.
Onward!
Sue Edwards
Swarthmore
