Community Members Voice Concerns At Town Hall Meeting To Discuss Explosion, Fire At Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A big crowd turned out for a town hall meeting to discuss the explosion and fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. Pennsylvania Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon hosted the listening session.
Eyewitness News was at the Seafareres Hall in South Philadelphia for the meeting Tuesday night.
It came less than two weeks after the 150-year-old refinery went up in flames.
Soon after, PES announced it would permanently shut down the refinery because the fire made it impossible to continue operations.
"It's a complicated situation. There's been hard, industrial production on that site for 150 years," Scanlon said. "So there's a lot of infrastructure, a lot of contamination, there are a lot of issues with the site. But we also have a situation where we now have 1,100 workers whose jobs are at risk."
Investigation Into Cause Of Refinery Explosion Could Take Months Or Years To Complete, Officials Say
Some of the audience want to see the property re-mediated and used for other economic development opportunities.