In June of 2019, a refinery site in South Philly had an unfortunate explosion occur, resulting in a massive fireball that launched into the highly populated state of Pennsylvania. Due to this explosion, the refinery site declared bankruptcy and the site is now being bid on for new ownership. The site occupies 1,300 acres and has been open for well over 100 years. The question is now being posed, “What should be done on this site?”

Executive Secretary-Treasurer William C. Sproule was requested to offer his own thoughts by the Philadelphia Inquirer on the issue, “The future PES site should encompass an amalgamation of old and new energy technology companies. The ideal end result would serve as a national model to continue fulfilling a hopefully diminishing market demand for fossil fuel-based energy products, while also moving quickly to provide cleaner alternatives.” 

Mayor Jim Kenney is set to declare his ruling on the plant’s future over the next month. No matter what the fate of the PES site, union carpenters are trained to make the next steps of Philadelphia development become reality.  

While fossil-fuels are a detriment to our society, they provide necessities that we are unable to give up until there are greener fuel alternatives. William Sproule continues, “Our Union members are a highly skilled workforce, trained to handle energy plant construction, maintenance, and the upgrades needed to meet today’s rigorous safety and security standards.”

Read the full commentary here