I discuss how the Green Movement is a core part of stopping gun violence in Chester City and why the Green Movement is a core part of improving education in our cities. I lastly give an up date as to what is going on between Ocean City Maryland and their trash dumping on Chester.

SHOUT OUT TO: http://checktheweather.net/

Chester PA has a right to clean air. Ocean City Maryland needs to reinstate their recycling program instead of dumping more trash to be burned in a city that has an overwhelming number of incinerators already. We have a right to clean air just like Ocean City. Sign the petition and say NO to trashing dumping on Chester!

PETITION: http://environment.change.org/petitions/view/no_more_oceans_of_trash_dumped_on_chester_city_2

Research: http://www.ejnet.org/chester

So what’s so scary about our water? Chester water may taste better than Media Township’s and Philadelphia’s but there is one horrible thing that we have in common with their water. Once our spring water hits the treatment plant they all have a chemical called hydrofluosilicic acid (also known as Fluoride) dumped into it. This acid is accumulated during the making of fertilizer by the phosphate industry. This acid is also regulated as hazardous waste until it has been dumped into your drinking water. It is only considered toxic if dumped into the water by you or I but it is called “medicine” when dumped into the water by a “phosphate fertilizing” company. See, it is the fertilizing company that has been given the permit to poison you.

These businessmen justify poisoning you by arguing that Fluoride is good for your teeth. Well, dentists who oppose fluoridation would tell you that it is one thing to use fluoride on your teeth but another thing to ingest it. Having it pass through your blood stream and kidneys is a bad idea. And it is for this reason that a poison control label is placed on your fluoridated toothpaste. Just take a look on the back of it. The only reason a warning label is on your toothpaste is because of the Fluoride that is in it.

This debate has been going on for about fifty years now, so I don’t expect to bring some sudden enlightenment to the community through a single editorial on the subject of fluoridation. But here is something you need to think about. In November 2006, both the American Dental Association and the Center for Disease Control recommended that infants not be exposed to fluoridated drinking water because it has been linked to causing permanent damage to their teeth. Other health problems associated with fluoride includes the stunting of brain growth, learning disabilities, kidney failure and bone cancer. Yet the argument of the phosphate businessmen is that fluoride is “medication” for those who cannot afford dental care.

Well here are some questions to consider… if fluoride is medication for dental care why not just let toothpaste do the job? Doesn’t it already have fluoride in it? And also, the last time I checked, medication was a choice. I could either chose to be medicated or I could chose to go without medication. Dumping acid in my drinking water doesn’t give me much of a choice. And it doesn’t stop there, because medication has always been regulated when in the mainstream market so where is the warning label on my tap water? Since when does a company that is not licensed in pharmaceuticals been given the right to forcibly medicate American citizens? If our city wants to “medicate” us, why haven’t we been asked first? There seems to be a glaring violation of civil justice here.

A violation that has to do with choice over my health.

A violation that has to do with transparency and information.

We can easily remedy this by giving “the people” the opportunity to choose.

We can easily remedy this by allowing “the people” to hear both sides of the debate on fluoridation.

We can put this on a ballot and let the people decide if they want to ingest fluoride as a medical public service.

Throughout the nation, there has been an increasing concern about the lack of input that the general populace is afforded when dealing with the decisions of elite businessmen and politicians. Health Care Bills have become Sick Care Bills once tainted by the interest of politicians and elite businessmen. Clean Energy Bills have become Dirty Energy Bills once tainted by the interest of politicians and elite businessmen. Jobs for Americans have become jobs for other nations due to the interest of politicians and elite businessmen. When do residents stand up and say enough is enough… you will not force us to swallow your selfish goals anymore?! The question is…are we so sick of it all that we are incapable of standing up for ourselves? It appears to me that Chester’s desire to fight for itself is what needs medication. So if you have a cure for apathy, I want you to know that I’d drink a bottle of that medicine anytime.

Despite how many dirty problems there were with the supposed “green” energy bill various climate groups supported it in order to ensure that their personal programs and agendas were funded by the bill.

Is money enough reason to push for a dirty-green bill when the people who will be hurt most by it are the working poor and people of color? I think not!

CHESTER — A handful of members from the Chester Energy Justice Network and a small group of students from Swarthmore College hosted an informational meeting about soil contamination at the planned soccer stadium site and the cleanup process Thursday night. “Just following through with the cleanup, that’s what we’re pushing,” said Desire Grover, a community activist and founder of the GhettoPrint Web site.

The meeting was Part 3 of a series of programs hosted by Energy Justice and the Delco Alliance for Environmental Justice to draw attention and educate residents about air, water quality, public health and the environment. It will be followed by a demonstration Saturday, in which members will carry signs urging developers and officials to “Clean It Up” while handing out information packets to nearby residents. The planned $115 million stadium development on the Chester waterfront will be built on what the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has designated a soil-contaminated “brownfield” site.

Different portions of the project will be located on three adjacent parcels of land, each with different levels of contamination. The portion intended for mixed-use commercial development, between Palmer and Jeffrey streets, will need the most work, according to DEP officials. It lies directly on the site of the former Chem Clear Inc., a hazardous and nonhazardous wastewater treatment plant that operated from 1977-1989. It’s also been the site for various industrial uses since the mid-1800s. Developers must propose a cleanup plan and have it approved by the DEP before they can move forward with parts of the construction. Although the presentation given by Swarthmore students focused heavily on the former Wade Dump site, where illegal toxic dumping led to a fatal 1978 fire, no part of the stadium development is planned for that site.

Now a parking lot, the former Wade site has undergone DEP-approved remediation and will not be the focus of any new work. Still, the presenters said the fire underscores the potential harm caused by illegal dumping along the waterfront, and should motivate residents to stay vigilant throughout the cleanup process. Chester High School teacher Delores Wright, one of the only residents to attend Thursday night’s meeting, said she was trying to hear all sides of the issue. “I just think in general, as citizens, that we need to be more aware of our environment,” she said. “And I think, as a teacher, I need to be aware of what’s happening.” Grover said the nonpartisan alliance is advocating for transparency, but does not oppose the stadium, although much of the night’s discussion focused on drawbacks to the development and disenfranchisement of residents.

Saturday’s demonstration will begin at 10 a.m. in front of the YWCA, Seventh and Sproul streets, Chester. The group will then proceed to the planned development site along the waterfront, and walk through nearby neighborhoods. Grover said the demonstration will be a kickoff to a larger program of activities, including possibly a DEP call-in campaign and appearances at city and county councils.

DELCO TIMES ORIGINAL POST: http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/03/27/news/doc49cc5858b77ae163438584.txt

Media Alert by Earthlust

In the past weeks, Chester residents have been actively engaged in protesting environmental justice abuses in the city, focusing on the removal of fluoride from city water, increased government attention to air pollution, and the importance of soil remediation, particularly in former industrial zones. On Saturday, March 14th a coalition of Chester students, activists, and residents marched from the Chester YMCA to the Chester Water Authority with signs saying “Take It Out”. They marched to protest the fluoride that is added to Chester’s water supply. Fluoridated water poses health risks; it increases lead absorption which is linked to learning disorders and causes brain damage especially in infants. One week later, on Saturday, March 21st residents marched again, this time to “Keep Them Honest.” The purpose was to demand a Public Air Monitoring Program. The final Day of Action will take place on March 28th. Residents will march from 10am-11am to “Clean It Up,” which refers to soil contamination at the site of the Soccer Stadium.

Residents interested in joining in the March 28th event and future campaigns around issues of environmental justice in Chester are invited to attend an informational meeting on Thursday, March 26th from 6-7 p.m. at the YWCA in Chester, located at 2 East 7th Street. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact the Delco Alliance for Environmental Justice at delcoalliance@gmail.com

((( PLAY PODCAST )))

*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

The atmosphere was tense, a deadline was looming and a last minute proposal was hot off the press. The Chester Upland School District Empowerment Board would soon prove itself to be very much empowered. Stadium Developers present at the meeting periodically gave pensive stares into the air, thinking hard about the case they would deliver.

The Senior Vice President of the Buccini Pollin Group, Mike Hare, was the first of the development team to take the floor. He tried clarifying any miscommunication from previous meetings with the School Board about the importance of the request.

“…Some of the concerns we have, which we communicated… maybe it’s important for me to make a few points. At our last meeting… Mr. Woolley asked what the benefit of the Keystone Opportunity Zone was to this project. I used a number, approximately, two million dollars in savings, obviously that number was used in the press. I want to clarify that term and what that meant.”

He continued on explaining the complexity of the project’s financial burdens and the number of stakeholders and their need for the sign off in order to meet all of their planned goals. Again the atmosphere was tense. It was the kind of tension that demanded clear answers and candid dialogue from all present. Convoluted explanations would not be tolerated.

“I think for better or for worst when you say it is a collective enterprise … I think for a number of people this whole process is a tad bit confusing. Because there’s so many entities, there’s so many layers and so when you the developer come… you are for all intents and purposes everybody… people can’t sift through the layers.”-Woolley

No one wanted to sift through layers early in the morning when they could be back home on a holiday vacation. Members of the Empowerment Board were not going to make it easy for the developers. School District Treasurer Juan Buaghn put a little fire under the developer’s feet when he laid out one of the community’s key concerns about the stadium project.

“There’s a concern that entities come into Chester, they build these wonderful places and then Chester folks don’t…get the benefits from it ‘cause they don’t get to work there.”

There would be no pulling of the punches today. On a number of occasions Harrah’s came up as the poster child for the deal that the community would not let happen again. Chester City’s Casino abomination tarnished the atmosphere making it hard for the board and community to be open to any more vague promises. School Board Chairman Marc Woolley made it clear that he had no confidence in the “trickle down” economics philosophy towards the school district. There was no need to wait and hope that the stadium’s success could turn into a benefit for the school district. The district needed a clear and real deal now not later.

“ Given that other relationships have been made. Harrah’s is giving 12 million dollars a year to the County and to the City and nothing to the District…why hasn’t the group, whatever the group is that is putting this stadium deal together why haven’t they made a financial commitment to the District?”-Woolley

“I think probably we just haven’t gotten that far into the project with the Master Plan.”-Hare

From the groans and moans at Hare’s response to the question it was clear that the community was not pleased. Would the city and county get away with carving the school district out of the financial benefits of the development yet again? Were the Stadium Developers going to be another repeat of Harrah’s?

Harrah’s Casino seemed to just happen to the community from the viewpoint of many Chester residents. But for City insiders it was not a sudden surprise because the development of the waterfront had been a long prepared goal. These development negotiations were often quiet and swift. Once all deals and transactions were made the announcements and promotions of the casino began.

During an interview with Bill Baldini on the Chester Today show Senator Pileggi described the Harrah’s deal as “…sort of behind the scenes and out of the eye of most people…” Being the Pioneer of the Chester City Development the Senator didn’t seem at all troubled with the knowledge that Chester Residents were left out of the dialogue.

Leaving “The People” out has often been the practice of the State, County and City so sometimes politicians here began to behave as if this is the rule and not so much the exception. Unfortunately, leaving “The People” out involved ignoring the needs of the Chester Upland School District. Although, Chester community leaders pushed hard for a school tax from Harrah’s neither the State, County or City would support the cause. The cold shoulder from Senator Pileggi towards the school district is surprising, being that he once sat on the Chester Upland School Board as he worked his way up the ladder to Chester Mayor and then State Senator. But on December 30th 2008 the decision to ignore “The People” had caught up with them all. Leaving developer’s frustrated and stupefied and some might even say unfairly duped by the states men who courted them to the waterfront.

Finally, after about two hours of hearing the disappointments and lack of trust coming from the empowerment board and the community the CEO of Keystone Sports & Entertainment Nick Sakiewicz came to the floor in hopes of reassuring the alert school district and community that they had nothing to fear.

“We’re taking a big risk building the stadium here… We’ve sunk roughly 15 million dollars into the ground on testing, development and pre-development and in this whole economic environment a lot of people are lookin’ at us and sayin’ ‘are you nuts?’ But we say no…we’re committed to this. We made commitments and we’re gonna fulfill those commitments and part of those commitments are to look out for the kids in this city.”

But the grind did not stop. The developers were not prepared for the steep incline of interrogation that they were going to have to climb.

At some point the distrust of the school board and community became too much for them to ignore. The dark shadow of Chester City’s Casino deal would not leave the room so at last the developers withdrew their request. They would have to pay for the sin of Chester City’s Casino deal. A sin not easily purged by a gamble on a stack of promises.

LISTEN NOW

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:

“The other thing that we’re trying to do here is provide access that is not currently here… we’re trying to provide direct access. Also additional access directly to Highland Avenue from 95…from different locations it would improve access into Chester.”

Young PennDot Representatives professionally pumped out their practiced spills. They clearly were not aware of how troubling the “access” pitch was to their visitors. The Reps seemed unmoved by the fact that most of the Chester folk there were concerned that they would lose access to their property not gain access. But these PennDot messengers were just passing thru very much like the I-95. The only difference is the I-95 refuses to leave and bring back the community it once consumed.

The room was noisy and crowded. Attending residents walked in circles not sure where to go or who to talk to first.

“So what the hell do they want because I don’t see nobody to talk to?”

The forty-year resident, Ruth Baldwin, was not feelin’ the flow of the meeting or rather the gathering in the City Hall Community Room.

“They need to sit down and talk to the people like they got some sense! I don’t even understand what this is all about…they need to sit down and talk to me cause I been here to long…over forty years in that area.”

They were all desperately trying to get a clear understanding as to what would happen to their homes and their property. Some learned the sad news that they could lose their homes if they lived on South Forwood Street. When neighbors recognized each other small clusters of them would gather around a chart or table. If they could not get clear answers from the reps they tried to pull answers from one another.

“They sayin’ that if they are comin’ that way they’re gonna have to take ‘em…They’re gonna have to take Forwood Street, that’s what the man just told them.”, reports a woman to her neighbor Tom.

The event was nothing like a community meeting as it was promoted. Instead it was more like an art gallery and the art pieces were the graphic charts that detailed the destruction/construction plans that the City and PennDot had put together just for residents to see. For some attendees this came across not as a meeting but as a notice that decisions had already been made.

When it comes to being “under construction” Chester is not alone, typically, city development plans include a very disturbing practice of “displacement”. The common idea is that in order to bring in new residents you have to remove the old ones. Displacement is happening all over the country, in places as close as Chinatown in Philadelphia and as far as Detroit, Michigan. But Chester needs to be encouraged because we do have allies and they are using one of the most powerful organizing tools ever.

MUSIC.

“…so I look back. See my city under construction. I look back. See my city under construction. With the locust…Surrounded suffocatin’ my city and tryin’ ta choke us. Ravagin’ the crops makin’ the situation hopeless but we stayin’ focused. Never letting the Locust approach us.”

An excerpt from the compelling song Locust produced by two phenomenal rap artists, Invincible and Finale, both out of Detroit Michigan. Together they developed a music video that plays into a documentary about the displacement and gentrification of Detroit residents, specifically, people of color. Invincible explains the process.

“Originally we were just looking at the current gentrification that was happening but as we started looking into the topic we saw that urban removal had started, actually, in the fifties with the building of the highways. Initially when the highway was built it was built right through the Black Bottom Paradise Valley Community. Which was an historic black community in Detroit that was very self-reliant. Had hundreds of it’s own businesses…completely cut through and destroyed by the building of the Highway.”

In order to amplify the emotional impact of displacement they interviewed various Detroit residents about their experiences with urban renewal and then integrated the voices of the locals into their song Locust. Invincible coins the piece as a “documusic video”.

“…as we were doing the interviews, researching…the more that we worked on the song we realized that we wanted to include those voices not just in forming our lyrics but also to include them directly. We created the documusic video for Locust… to highlight different community voices on topic and … to get peoples attention and at the same time get the message across and hopefully inspire action. Inspire people to get involved, making a change about the situation.”

Currently, she is on an organizing rampage. She has taken the 12-minute documentary on tour, teaming up with other artist and independent media outlets such as Scribe in Philadelphia. On December 4th she screened the documusic video Locust at Scribe and facilitated a writing workshop rooted in the creative process of hiphop.

A stellar rap artist, passionate activist and powerful poet are just some of the words that describe her. And even those few words don’t do justice to the musically talented social activist package she brings. Even Talib Kweli has love for her. Now you know that’s talent.

Let’s consider this Chester, development is not a bad thing. Actually, it can be a very good thing but only if we make it so. Regardless of whether our leaders play the role of fools or kings we as a community must realize that we have a role to play as well and that is the role of a COMMUNITY. So get inspired and get involved because as history has proven that when we unite we are practically invincible.

If you’d like to hear more of Invincible’s latest album “Shape Shifters” just visit her label’s website www.emergencemusic.net

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.”


Currently, Pennsylvania State, Delaware County and Chester City have all given green lights to the building of a Soccer Stadium that will be placed on top of an area that was once deemed unusable by the courts. This area has been coined the “Wade Dump” and it is located on Flower Street next to the Commodore Barry Bridge. In order to build there developers have promised to use a process they call Environmental Remediation. In other words they have promised to clean the toxic brownfield so that they can build both the stadium and a residential space for commercial profit.

“We have not done any of our deep plow foundations or any of that yet.”

Michael Hare is the Senior Vice President of the Buccini Pollin Group, the Stadium Developer.

“We’re in the process of finalizing our notice of intent to remediate to send to DEP.”

Environmentalist were put on red alert, in early October, when the Department of Environmental Protection announced that it was “fast-tracking” the development under it’s Brownfield Action Team. The concern is that the clean up may end up not all that clean if done quickly. BPG may get its stadium but residents may have their health once again put on the back burner of City priorities.

Mike Ewall.“Because they’re a big economic interest that wants to build a stadium and they don’t care about cleaning up the site properly and the only way they can do it is by using the very weak clean up standards that Pennsylvania has to do a quick and dirty clean up on paper not necessarily a real clean up but one that just meets some very basic and limited requirements so that they can declare it clean and go ahead and build somethin’.”

BPG the developer and Weston Solutions the remediation crew will both be cleaning and building simultaneously once the permit to do so is given. Despite the concern of community leaders and environmentalist the Department of Environmental Protection promises that the “fast-track” process they are using is routine and nothing to be alarmed about.

John Kennedy is the Assistant Regional Director of DEP

“ Expediting a BAT project does not mean that we’re gonna take any short cuts in the clean up of this site…. And that’s very similar to other sites that have been cleaned up in the region for mixed use or commercial uses.”

Regardless of promises from the developers some leaders in the community desire more transparency about the site’s cleanup. A plan to protect the residents that are surrounded by the current construction has been a key concern.

“Its just that residents are trapped within that general area.”

That’s Rev.Strand, founder of Chester’s Environmental Partnership.

“And they need to be taken into consideration. And make sure that there is a comprehensive plan to address that issue. At present there isn’t. How would you like to have billion dollar construction going on all around you… the noise, the dust… and your stuck down there in a little hole.”

As the soccer stadium is being built in a basketball town there are residents who question just who all of the development will benefit. Is it for the surrounding boroughs, Philadelphia and the townships or will it also be for the working class that currently lives here? But the hope is that as Chester Rises it considers lifting as many of it’s hard working residents as it can. It would be a shame to see even the most dedicated to C-Pride get left behind.