1860 – June 21, 2019

PES Oil Refinery

Until this year, the largest refinery on the East Coast was located on the banks of the Schuylkill river in South Philadelphia. Open since the 1860s, its ownership has changed hands many times over the last 150 years, but it was owned most recently by Philadelphia Energy Solutions. The refinery has been responsible for numerous fires in the past couple centuries, and especially in the 1800s, oil would cover the surface of the Schuykill river, causing it to regularly catch fire (and often take boats and people with it). Today, people living in the surrounding neighborhoods of Southwest Philly and Grays Ferry have higher rates of asthma and cancer than in other parts of the city due to the release of toxic chemicals by the refinery. Both these neighborhoods are predominantly Black, and 31.6% of Southwest and 41.3% of Grays Ferry residents live beneath the poverty line. On June 21st, 2019, the refinery caught fire once again, this time causing an explosion so large it could be seen from space. Debris from the explosion narrowly missed a tank containing hydrofluoric acid, a reagent used in the refining process. Had this tank been punctured, the acid would have vaporized, causing a cloud of toxic gas to descend over the city. An estimated 1.1 million people would need to be evacuated. However, it's likely that the evacuation would've been unsuccessful, given that the explosion occurred at 4am, and the shelter-in-place sirens didn't go off until 5:30am. If that tank had been punctured, it could've become the deadliest industrial disaster in history, killing thousands (if not tens of thousands) through inhalation of HF gas and leaching into the Schuylkill, a major water supply in the region. There are much safer alternatives to hydrofluoric acid, but none of these were used at the refinery because they're more expensive. This year, the refinery was permanently closed, and sold to a developer.

Philadelphia, PA

NBC Philadelphia

Clara Iodice