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Dear Friend,

Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) is applying to renew the air pollution permit at its South Philadelphia liquified natural gas (LNG) storage facility on Passyunk Avenue. Clean Air Council has serious concerns about the air pollution emitted by this facility in a community that has long suffered from environmental injustices. PGW’s Passyunk Plant is directly adjacent to a community of color endangered by the harmful air pollution from the former Philadelphia refinery as well as nearby highways and PGW’s own 73,000 barrel LNG storage facility. The Passyunk Plant is also the location for a proposed public/private LNG storage facility approved by City Council in 2019, but never constructed.

The Passyunk Plant is permitted as a “synthetic minor” source, which means that it has the capacity to emit more significant air pollution, but receives various restrictions that keep both smog-causing nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution under 25 tons per year. This limit exists because the City of Philadelphia remains in marginal nonattainment of federal air pollution standards for ground-level-ozone, and if the facility exceeded this limit it would have to go through a much more stringent review and permitting process. Unfortunately, the only restriction on the plant’s largest pollution sources, 3 natural gas-fired boilers that each have the potential to emit over 25 tons of NOx per year, are how much fuel they can use each year. Clean Air Council believes further precautions should be taken to ensure that this facility keeps its air pollution below “major source” thresholds. Click here to submit an official comment.

Clean Air Council is also concerned that PGW and the City’s Air Management Services (AMS) considers the facility’s 73,000 gallon LNG storage tank an “insignificant” source of air pollution and does not employ pollution controls or regular pollution monitoring directed at this large storage tank. Because of the surrounding community’s history of air pollution and the large potential for this facility to create air pollution, Clean Air Council urges you to tell AMS to demand that PGW install more protective pollution controls and practices at its Passyunk Plant. 

Comments are due today!

Sincerely,

Joseph Otis Minott, Esq.
Executive Director and Chief Counsel