You may have already seen the news, but we wanted to share this exciting update, climate champion!
After over a year of fierce resistance, community members in Point Township, Pennsylvania defeated a billion-dollar proposal to build a pyrolysis plant in their town!
This victory owes much to the incredible efforts of our Susquehanna Valley chapter members, who teamed up with local residents and organizations to form Save Our Susquehanna (SOS). Spearheaded by chapter chair, Climate Reality Leader, and Green Ring Award winner Dr. Sandy Field, the chapter and the coalition behind SOS were instrumental in mobilizing neighbors to oppose the plant.
These so-called “chemical recycling” facilities are nothing more than glorified incinerators – just another scheme the fossil fuel industry is using to keep its destructive empire afloat.
Encina, the Texas-based company behind the plant, planned to ship 450,000 tons of plastic waste annually to the rural town, where they would produce toxic chemicals like benzene, toluene, and xylene, while pumping millions of gallons of water from the Susquehanna River and posing a serious contamination threat.
As the first “chemical recycling” plant proposed in Pennsylvania, this win sends a powerful message to the fossil fuel industry: greenwashed plants like these have no place in our communities. All communities deserve good jobs and investment, but not at the cost of our health and the planet.
