Located in Delaware County, about 15 miles southeast of Philadelphia, this city of 43,000 people has the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the state. Once an industrial boomtown, Chester hosted numerous large-scale shipbuilding facilities, oil refineries, and automobile plants. In the 1940s and 1950s, many people, including African-Americans from the south and immigrants from Eastern Europe, flocked to Chester to find well-paying jobs. However, between 1950 and 1980, 32% of the jobs in Chester disappeared and the economy collapsed. Most of the upwardly mobile residents left the city, leaving behind a largely poor and minority population.
New industries moved in, but not the kind many of the residents planned for or wanted. Chester now houses four large hazardous and municipal waste-treatment facilities. Daily, trucks from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and as far away as Virginia roll through Chester’s West End, delivering thousands of tons of waste. Claiming that the waste facilities are disrupting their lives and polluting the air that they breathe, the residents formed the Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL).
Nearly all of Delaware County’s municipal solid waste and sewage is treated at the Chester
facilities. In addition, 90% of all monitored air pollutants released in the county are from
Chester-area sources. The city’s autoclave facility is the largest in the country and receives
medical waste from Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and New Jersey. In March 1998, George magazine dubbed Chester “Toxic Town U.S.A.”
The poverty rate in Chester is about 25%, which is three times the national average. About 65% of Chester residents are African-American, many of whom suffer from chronic respiratory problems, high blood-lead levels, and other illnesses. Chester has a mortality and lung cancer rate that is 60% higher than the rest of Delaware County. It also has the highest percentages of low birth rate and infant mortality in the entire state.
prepared by TerrificScience
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