It’s Getting Hot In Here

Written by Desire Grover

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*Transcript of A Ghetto Print Minute Podcast

On December 30th a final proposal was put in around 7 am asking for the Chester Upland School District to sign over 40 acres of their property. The deadline for the sign off was December 31st so the pressure was on. The Soccer Stadium Developers were in need of a kind gesture from the same school district that had been horrifically starved financially and left to die a slow death. A school district deserted by its State, County and City all for the sake of a tax-free city development incentive called the Keystone Opportunity Zone. But on December 30th the tables would turn. And the Developers would pay the largest price for the Sins of Chester City.

What the Stadium Developers were asking for was tremendous. They wanted the School District to just hand the land over so that they could continue development according to their tax-free terms. Say what? That’s right you heard me correctly. You would think this were an 80’s Disney film. The once nerdy and ignored school district suddenly had the upper hand. The ball was in their court and they had only a few hours to make the shot. Would they be forgiving of Chester City who had left the school district in the cold after the infamous Harrah’s Casino Deal? The Soccer Stadium Developers were the friends of Chester City who had been welcomed into the City’s prosperity plans all while the school district received not one invitation to the party. Would the School District forget all of this and simply sign over their 40 acres and the mule to the City’s friends?

“The proposal is that the education empowerment board agree to the inclusion of one additional property. That known as the Barry Bridge Park into the exiting Keystone Opportunity Zone along the City of Chester Waterfront.”-CUSD Lawyer Bush Continue reading ‘The Sins of Chester City’

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by Desire Grove

In a great book somewhere there is a proverb written that reads like this: “It takes a fool to tear down a city but a king to build one.” Chester is now a city under construction but not first without some major destruction. So one might wonder is our city development currently directed by fools or kings?

On October 29th residents were informed that Chester City and PennDot had a plan. The plan is to expand the highway I-95. When the highway was first created about fifty years ago it swallowed up neighborhoods and now it appears that the 95 is hungry again. The expansion is expected to devour about forty homes along South Forwood Street. The bitter news was quickly followed by a sweet promise of making Chester more accessible:
Continue reading ‘Under Construction’

No sweeping toxins under the rug.

CHESTER, PA – Chester is rising some would say. Yet others might point out that it’s only risen but so far off the ground. Contaminated ground that is.

Throughout Delaware County and among charity givers Chester is seen as a place that is in constant need. In need of jobs, in need of adequate housing, political reform and quality education but not too many think about Chester’s need for a cleaner environment. It’s this lack of concern & knowledge that has allowed Chester’s industrial past to haunt it for so long. And even as the city experiences booming development along it’s waterfront it will not be able to continue it’s development without taking an added risk with the health of it’s residents that live along 291 between Flower and Ward Street.

Here’s Environmentalist Mike Ewall, founder of Action PA.

“The types of chemicals that are found at these sites and the amount of toxic chemicals that are there which in some places are a few feet thick … They’ve been pumping stuff out of there and trying to keep it from seeping into the Delaware River for years.”

Continue reading ‘Mess Up & Clean Up’

By: Amy Brisson, abrisson@delcotimes.com

CHESTER - Several local organizations put public pressure on the Chester City Council to demonstrate greater support for their community projects during a meeting Wednesday evening. Desire Grover, an organizer for the Chester Energy Justice Network, pushed council members to sign a petition committing them to increase Chester’s number of “green jobs.”

“It used to be a very gray city and now we’re paying for the pollution that happened here. Now we want to turn this into a green city,” said Grover, advocating for job creation that also benefits the environment.

Only Councilwoman Marrea Walker-Smith has signed the petition to date, Grover said. Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. told Grover she has the board’s support and promised to have a representative meet with her organization.Several members of the Chester Community Grocery Co-op, including founder Tina Johnson, also spoke at Wednesday’s meeting to ask for more explicit support for their co-op’s expansion.

“I feel that the Chester Co-op is a viable business,” argued Rod Powell, an instructor at the Chester Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and a co-op board member. “The reason why I’m here is to get your blessing on a Chester Co-op.”

Butler promised the group had his “blessing,” and that he would promptly coordinate a meeting between city officials and co-op organizers.

ORIGINAL STORY: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?dept_id=18171&newsid=20158933

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Promises, promises, promises… are something that every politician makes. Especially, in the year of election. It’s the bloodline of any campaign. But when it comes to making good on these promises…well that’s when it becomes a matter of… politics and promises have a tendency to lose out.

At least Tina Johnson seems to think so ” Politics as usual.”

She’s the founder of the Chester Community Grocery Co-op. She knows first hand what it means to hear promises, promises and more promises. She has been trying desperately to gain both the public and financial support of Chester’s political leaders but still has yet to see them effectively do so.

Over a year ago Tina approached the Chester City Council.

“City council said ‘we will consider this proposal and let you know what we think and get back to you on it’… They never got back to us.”

She also tried the state level… “Thaddeus Kirkland said that he would work with our co-op… to make sure that the co-op has access to resources on a state level… we’re not getting any assistance at all.”

The need for a fresh food outlet didn’t just pop up out of the blue. Chester, like many urban communities, has serious health issues that are directly connected to fresh food access.

Currently, development is taking place all over Chester City. Due to the “revitalization” of the city we now have a casino and will soon have a soccer stadium in this basketball town. Housing developments are springing up all over the city so what’s the big deal with supporting the Grocery co-op. Is it the money?

“Through negotiations I was able to secure 4 million dollars.” That’s State Representative Thaddeus Kirkland. And according to him it’s not the money. “It started off at 1 million or 2 million dollars but we were able to secure 4 million dollars.”

The question is who will this 4 million go to so that Chester City is finally able to have fresh food access?

“We’re now in conversation with operators, different operators… hopefully by next week we’ll have one secured.”- Rep.Kirkland

Apparently the “operators” would like to have their shovels in the ground by the end of November. Who these “operators” are and what they will bring was not offered by the State Rep. How big the market will be, how many jobs it will supply still isn’t clear. All the while, the Chester Community Grocery Co-op, which already exists, will have to wait on financial support, despite previous promises.

“And when you’re not supporting those who are trying to… create opportunities through all of these means, whether its food access or job creation and you can’t stand up and say we support this…this is our contribution to this effort than the question is what are you doing as a politician?” - Johnson

Despite this election year Kirkland says that he does have the coop in mind and sees no conflict with bypassing his promises to the coop in order to see to it that another food source is given financial support.

” By bringing in a market it reinforces… it helps reinforce the conversations with the coop. I think that it’s important that the supermarket and the coop co-exist.”-Rep.Kirkland
It’s still unclear as to when the co-op will receive credible support from any of the city officials. Until then a few weak promises will have to suffice but in the meantime… “…again we’re in conversation so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.”, says Rep.Kirkland That’s right… in the meantime we’re keeping our fingers crossed. I promise.

ORIGINAL STORY: www.ghettoprint.com

Chester, PA - According to a recent article in the Delco Times the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)announced that it will “fast-track the environmental remediation needed” along the Chester Waterfront in order to complete the Major League Soccer stadium by 2010. The DEP has given its stamp of approval on the project outside the concerns of some Chester locals and environmental groups.

According to Mike Ewall of the Energy Justice Network: “The stadium’s alarmingly short timeline can’t be good for Chester. Being a terribly toxic site, any legitimate cleanup effort cannot be done quickly. It’ll end up being a mess-up, cover-up or move-around.”

Despite the concern that “fast tracking” the project may expose Chester residents to even more toxins at the site, the Bucinni/Pollin Group assured Energy Justice that the site would be cleaned thoroughly. This promise was made during the latest Chester Environmental Partnership meeting held at the Faith Temple Holy Church, chaired by Rev. Horace Strand.

The DEP granted a permit to Bucinni/Pollin which will allow the developer to began preliminary construction on the site. The Department will also administer what they call a “Brownfield Action Team.” The expectation is that this team will “…accelerate redevelopment deals…” - DEP Press Release - Oct 1, 2008

All of this is quite the gamble for Chester’s poor health issues as a community. Some residents don’t see the logic in rushing the already dangerous job.

“If all they are going to do is load all of the contaminated soil onto a truck, drive it across the nation and then burn it in the backyard of another predominantly black community, than we’re the losers no matter how fast it’s done,” said Carole Burnett, Chester local.

The DelCo Alliance for Environmental Justice, a local community group, is working hard to make sure that the waterfront project does not become a botched effort. Brownfield Action Team or no Brownfield Action Team… the hope is that Chester residents do not end up the losers.

Chester PA - The event was a heart warming success. Community leaders, Developers, Architects and Teachers throughout Chester attended along with young adults who just wanted to be in the know about where the, potentially new, jobs might be. Using the video resources, provided by Green For All, Energy Justice Network put on a tight presentation, educating the locals about Green Jobs and encouraging them to take action. In order to bring the movement close to home we also had three key speakers who explained what it would take, in a practical way, for Chester to benefit from the growing green economy. The local speakers were Angela Chandler, green developer, of Diversified Housing Solutions, Tina Johnson, founder of the Chester Food Co-op and Carole Burnett of the Delco Alliance for Environmental Justice. Our event was wonderfully hosted by the YWCA Chester. The YWCA is currently going green and becoming more energy efficient.

Other victories happened as well. We were able to get one of our City Council members to sign the Green Jobs Pledge for Local Government Officials and we are preparing a presentation for the City Council along with other community leaders. Our councilwoman Marrea Walker-Smith was also so gracious as to be apart of our Day of Action photo. Chester did C-Green today and there is a great chance that it will see even more in the near future as city development pushes forward.

Lastly, be on the look out for a short video documentary about the challenges we faced putting this event together in a heavily partisan and political town. We are working hard to get the locals to see pass politics and understand that to go green is for the people and not political parties. Best wishes to all of you and thanks for having us as apart of this awesome day of ACTION!

*Some previous web & Photoshop knowledge required.
But you can always email me for more details: desire@energyjustice.net

Just a fun way to show how everyone’s voice counts in the movement.

SOFTWARE needed:
(PSD) Photoshop 6.0 or most current
(IR) Image Ready (Comes with Photoshop)
(DW) Dreamweaver MX or most current.

CLICK HERE to download Word Document of the tutorial.

Chester, Pennsylvania

The latest city planning meeting in @ Chester City Hall 8.21.08 turned out to be a productive one. A number of residents, business owners and community leaders came out to hear what the deal is with the water front development. The focus of the meeting was about the environmental remediation / cleanup process, which will be a key part of the Stadium & Waterfront Development.

Now what makes this environmental remediation so important is due to the land’s past history of EXCESSIVE industrial use since the early 1800’s. The most remarkable incident occurred when in 1978 a dump called the Wade Dump caught on fire. The dump was located just beneath the Commodore Barry Bridge. The fact that the fire was a CHEMICAL fire was not disclosed to the fighters that arrived. The dump contained over 200 of the worst toxic chemicals. Since then a number of fire fighters have died due to their exposure to these toxins. Although, the Wade Dump has gone through a cleaning process there is still some concern about the presence of these chemicals in the soil as well as how much of the ground water has been effected. Continue reading ‘Remediation Smothering the Flames’

It’s been a blast canvassing the grounds of Swarthmore College. The school is known for it’s green awareness and houses some heavy hitting environmentalist groups such as Earth Lust who worked hard and got their school to buy 35% of their energy from a windmill company.

“During its recent Board of Managers annual budget review meeting, Swarthmore College committed to purchase 35 percent of its total energy use from wind power sources. Long a supporter of renewable energy, the College has stepped up to become the Pennsylvania institution of higher education purchasing the largest percentage of its power from renewable sources.”-Swarthmore News

With the help of Community Activist Carol Burnett of the Delco Alliance we were able to collect 132 pledges! Carol and I enjoyed our time with the freshmen that were excited and ready to support the need for Clean Energy, Green Jobs and Cleaner Politics. And to bring more fun to the process we took some pictures to add a face to some of the names. We’re even in the process of creating a thank you slash infomercial video to pull in support across the digital world. Check out the virtual PLEDGEWALL we created to show the power of a collective voice. And the coolest thing about it all is that this wall can only get taller with every new pledge.

Other news is that 17 pledgers are interested in volunteering and many more of them wanted to learn more about upcoming events. Our next stop is Widener University. Right in my hometown so it means a lot to canvass here. They know just how important it is to see a greener Chester as well as the need for Green Jobs and Green Careers to come to this city. It’s a small city with BIG environmental problems. More victories for this city are in the works

No matter how big or small the challenge change shall come because EVERY VOICE COUNTS!

Peace,

DG