Over 20 community members gathered in Batten House, Bryn Mawr College’s environmentally focused co-operative living environment, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, to watch and discuss the documentary film “Laid to Waste: a Chester neighborhood fights for its future.” Batten House resident and event organizer Carmen Siftar ‘25 stated that, “Batten House’s focus is on environmental justice, and we’re trying to have more events that show that focus.”
Released in 1997, the documentary details the fight between the “West End” community of Chester, Pennsylvania, and the multiple waste processing facilities in the area, including a large trash incinerator, a medical waste plant, and a sewage treatment facility. Chester, which lies 18 miles east of Bryn Mawr, has long faced environmental injustice, with its predominantly Black and low-income residents bearing the brunt of the pollution and health risks posed by these waste processing facilities. The documentary shows community organizers like Zulene Mayfield, who founded the group CRQL (Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living,) as they challenge the waste industry despite severe bureaucratic setbacks, threats and vandalism.
Despite public outcry and continued community protest, Chester is still home to “the nation’s largest trash incinerator, a sewage sludge incinerator, a paper mill burning waste coal and petroleum coke, numerous chemical plants, toxic waste sites, and much more,” according to CRQL’s website. CRQL is still leading the fight against pollution in Chester, with Mayfield at the helm opposing a new proposed plant for liquefying natural gas. It is now also being discovered that the air pollution from the waste processing facilities is “linked with respiratory illnesses like asthma, and puts individuals at higher risk for diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and others… Children in Chester have asthma rates 5x the national average,” according to 2010 Census Data from The Asthma Program and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Siftar hopes that by showing this film, Bi-Co students will be inspired to get involved in the fight against environmental racism happening in Chester. She commented that she’s been involved with Swarthmore’s club, Campus Coalition Concerning Chester. “We’ve been talking with them about, like, how can we be involved as Bryn Mawr students… about the idea of starting a Bryn Mawr or Bi-Co C-4, because it is technically a model that could happen at any school.” A C-4, which stands for ‘Campus Coalition Concerning Chester,’ is an environmental organization on campuses that is designed to to support environmental justice campaigns in Chester and Delaware County.
However, Siftar continues, “Right now, with the capacity of what we’ve got going on, and the general lack of awareness around what is happening in Chester, and the intense pollution and environmental injustice, we might just start with trying to direct people to going to their [Swarthmore’s] meetings, because Swarthmore’s not that far, and we have the ability to go on the bus.” Swarthmore’s C-4 meets every Monday at 5 p.m., and welcomes new members.
In addition to encouraging students to join Swarthmore’s C-4, Siftar also hopes students will attend the Environmental Justice Day march at Chester City Hall at 11:30 a.m. on May 3. CRQL meetings are also open to new members, meeting over Zoom from 7-8 p.m. on Thursdays. Students can reach out to bmc.battenhaus@gmail.com for more information about C-4 meetings, CRQL meetings, or the Environmental Justice Day march.
