Protesters rally against proposed Navy Yard oil plan
Protesters decrying a proposed Navy Yard oil import/export facility rallied outside the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery in South Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
Protesters decrying a proposed Navy Yard oil import/export facility rallied outside the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery in South Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
PES has proposed building the facility at the planned Southport Marine Terminal Complex at the eastern end of the Navy Yard.
Some nearby residents and activists want the company - operator of the former Sunoco refinery in South Philadelphia - to withdraw its proposal, one of six currently before landowner Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.
Police said about 200 protesters demonstrated peacefully Saturday, resulting in no problems or arrests.
PES currently processes about 335,000 barrels of crude oil per day from what it says is the largest oil-refining complex on the East Coast. Its import/export facility plan would begin with four 250,000-barrel tanks for storing crude oil and four 250,000-barrel tanks for storing gasoline and diesel.
It later would open two additional 250,000-barrel tanks for storing crude for export.
The Port Authority is evaluating the six proposals for the 120 empty acres just south of the Walt Whitman Bridge.
Southport, the city's first major maritime expansion in five decades, also includes 75 acres around an old seaplane hanger at the Navy Yard and the north berth of Pier 124 on the Delaware.
Detailed plans are due by the end of August.
Other proposals include developing a traditional marine terminal with container- and cargo-ship berths, or combinations of warehouse, storage, and processing spaces.
Protesters issued a statement saying that turning the site into a container-shipping facility "will create thousands more living-wage union jobs than the dirty energy proposals." They also said they oppose turning the city into a fossil fuel "energy hub."
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