Home Care In Marcus Hook, PA

Philadelphia, Pa. - October 19, 2022 - Braskem (B3: BRKM3, BRKM5, and BRKM6; NYSE: BAK; LATIBEX: XBRK) the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas, as well as a market leader and pioneer producer of biopolymers on an industrial scale, today announced its partnership and donation to the Borough of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania to launch a new community drop-off recycling center. The newly launched facility will serve the approximately 2,400 Marcus Hook residents where curbside recycling is not currently available and addresses interest from the community to have access to recycling capabilities for paper, aluminum, glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (#1), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) (#2) and polypropylene (PP) (#5) plastics. Braskem America's participation in the recycling center initiative is in-line with the company's commitment to building a circular economy for plastics as well as its goals related to the elimination of plastic waste.

Braskem America has maintained a presence in Marcus Hook since 2010 with a polypropylene manufacturing facility employing more than 130 team members. Stephanie Whitesell, Braskem America's Marcus Hook Plant Manager, stated "As a long-standing member of the borough of Marcus Hook, Braskem is strongly committed to investing in our Marcus Hook PP production facility as well as the surrounding community. We are honored to play a role in bringing neighborhood recycling to the residents of Marcus Hook and contributing to the advancement of a Carbon-Neutral Circular Economy. Our thanks go out to the Marcus Hook Mayor and the Borough Council for their leadership in bringing this new recycling initiative to reality as well as for their public-private collaboration with Braskem America."

"I'd like to thank Braskem for being a great partner with the Borough of Marcus Hook and for their generosity, we're excited to provide this recycling drop-off center to our residents to help foster a circular economy," commented Gene Taylor, Mayor of Marcus Hook.

A Recycling Drop-off Center inauguration recognition ceremony will be held today October 19 at noon ET at the new Marcus Hook Recycling Drop-off Center, located adjacent to the Marcus Hook Municipal Building at 1111 Market Street. Special guests of the event will include Gene Taylor, Mayor of Marcus Hook, distinguished members of the Marcus Hook Borough Council as well as Stephanie Whitesell, Braskem America's Marcus Hook Plant Manager, and members of Braskem America's sustainability and industrial teams. Additionally, as part of Braskem's joint commitment to sustainability and STEM education with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Eagles team's mascot 'Swoop' will also be present for this recognition ceremony.

Following the Recycling Drop-off Center inauguration ceremony, members of the Marcus Hook community will have direct access to recycling, thus helping eliminate waste otherwise destined for landfills and other traditional waste processing streams. The site will be monitored by video camera to help ensure public safety and has space designated for future expansion based on additional potential community recycling needs.

From promoting plastic circularity to driving the bio-based materials revolution, Braskem is committed to diminishing the dependency on finite resources and reducing carbon emissions while generating a positive impact for a better society. Improving lives at scale, each and every day is our way of showing we believe in change.

Braskem has clearly stated targets for growing the company's recycled content product portfolio to sales of 300,000 tons by 2025 and 1 million tons by 2030. Braskem's transition to a circular economy is deeply rooted in mechanical and advanced recycling solutions. By engaging and investing in partnership with other members of the value chain the company is strengthening mechanical and advanced recycling, overcoming barriers, and ensuring the increased production of high-quality recycled material. All these initiatives are aligned with Braskem's feedstock diversification strategy and its macro goals of expanding the circular economy concept in the plastic chain and becoming a carbon-neutral company by 2050.

To learn more visit https://www.braskem.com/usa/macroobjectives .

DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. - More than 24 hours after it started fire investigators were still on the scene of a massive warehouse fire in Marcus Hook, Delaware County.

The 4-alarm fire on the 200 block of East 10th Street was the third major warehouse fire in the area within the last week.

"There was all this smoke and it kept getting worse and worse," said a Marcus Hook resident who lives across the street from the latest fire.

The blaze broke out in a vacant warehouse after 6 p.m. Monday night. More than 100 firefighters responded from Delaware, Chester and New Castle Counties. They battled for more than seven hours before it was put under control. Residents who live just across the street from the quarter-million square foot beast say they’re lucky.

Fire investigators tell FOX 29 a group of four children were seen near the warehouse before the fire but haven’t said if they have anything to do with the cause.But residents nearby say broken windows and graffiti on the buildings have been issues for years. Part of the building property is so neglected a tree is growing out of the roof.

"They should take it down. I mean it’s been abandoned. Kids playing in it," said Joe Kelly who lives down the street from the warehouse fire.

This was the third major warehouse fire in the area within the last week. Last Tuesday a 4-alarm fire broke out at the US Auto Auction building in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Another 4-alarm fire raged overnight Sunday inside an old tire manufacturing building in Port Richmond. Smoke from the fire closed down I-95 in both directions.

In the meantime, neighbors in Marcus Hook say a fire may be the best thing that’s happened to the eyesore next door.

"The building is a bit of an eyesore so I mean if I’m being a hundred percent honest I’d like the building to go away altogether," said Durham.

State fire marshals are investigating the cause for all three fires but they’re not believed to be connected.

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MARCUS HOOK — After decades of abandonment and a number of failed redevelopment plans demolition at the former FMC/ American Viscose property on 10th Street in Marcus Hook is kicking into high gear.

Developers are demolishing the remaining buildings on the site ahead of a planned 375,000 square-foot warehouse complex to be built on the 30-acre property.

Borough officials recently held a town hall meeting for residents with demolition experts and developers to outline their plans.

Borough Manager Andrew Weldon called it an exciting time for the property to be redeveloped as most of the structures have been vacant since the late 1970s. Weldon said borough council has conditionally approved the development and the land development plan should be completed within the year.

The sale of the property to Duke Realty was finalized in December and Keith Meehan, Senior Project Manager with Duke, said his company expects to be a permanent fixture in the community. He said the new buildings will be fully sprinklered, environmentally focused and LEED sustainable designed.

Meehan said he hopes borough residents will be able to find jobs at the new warehouse.

American Viscose Co. was the first to successfully manufacture artificial rayon silk in the early 20th century and the plant contributed significantly to the country’s defense in both World Wars I and II, supplying fiber for military applications. In later years the plant was owned by FMC Corporation which is still responsible for brownfield clean-up at the site.

In November a three-alarm fire struck one of the buildings being demolished. Nobody was injured in the blaze in the old warehouse section of the building which has now been demolished.

Ted Jefferies, Project Executive for General Contractor IMC Construction, said it would take six to seven months of demolition to take down the remaining buildings,which contain more than 700,000 square feet of space. Following that site work will take place to prepare the property for construction.

Crews have already been working on the safe removal of asbestos in the buildings. Air monitoring goes on inside the building to assure no asbestos is escaping.

“Our No. 1 priority is safety, everything we do is driven around safety,” Jefferies said.

Demolition of the building will be done by hydraulic excavators that will chew up the buildings foot by foot, said Bob Casciato. President Alliance environmental which is the contractor doing the actual demolition work.

A special 200,000 pound excavator with a 105 foot boom is being used for the job. Crews will slowly process the building down floor by floor and the 60,000 tons of masonry from the demolition will be crushed and processed and reused on site which he estimated will save 3,000 truck trips through the borough, Casciato said.

The old Viscose property as seen from 10th Street in Marcus Hook. (PETE BANNAN - DAILY TIMES)

“It’s the most beneficial use for this material and you are also going to save that number of trips coming in to import material… roads , pipe bedding, filling up basements and things like that.” Casciato said. “There are faster ways to take these buildings down but no safer ways given its proximity to the street.”

The smoke stack, which is 225 feet tall and 26 feet wide at the base, will be imploded, officials said, possibly in March or April though a demolition permit has not yet been issued for that part of the project.

“It’s a big stack” Casciato said, noting that it will fall into the property with most of the weight falling straight down.

Officials said the demolition of building one, which runs along 10th Street and faces the historic Viscose Village homes will be done cautiously to minimize debris and dust to neighboring properties. Concrete barriers and fencing will be put up to protect from debris falling into the street.

Officials said 10th Street will remain open during the project; however Penn Avenue, which wraps around the east and north side of the complex, may be rerouted. Officials are still working on the logistics of the fire station which needs to remain clear for use.

A number of residents were concerned about the dust that would be created. Demolition officials said water would be sprayed including a large machine that resembles those seen at ski resorts. It will spray a fine mist to keep dust down.

“It’s not a dust-free process. I’m not going to lie to you but we are going to do our best to mitigate it,” Casciato said.

Officials read a statement from FMC, which is responsible for the brownfield clean-up on the property.

Their plans called for that work to occur in July and August and it will involve excavation of certain soils and establishment of engineering and institutional controls prior to the redevelopment. The company recently resubmitted their plans to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection titled FMC remedial investigation/ risk assessment report and clean-up plan. Remediation of the site is separate from the demolition. The brownfield work is more to the back of the site along Penn Avenue and will remove contaminated dirt and move it off site.

Officials also expect to create a memorial marker to the Viscose Co.

“We’re excited about this. Those buildings have been sitting there for a long long time, so we’re excited, we want this to happen but we want it to happen safely,” said resident Lorraine Daliessio.

A Chester woman and a Marcus Hook woman were among six people arrested by federal authorities in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance fraud that cost the government about $1 million, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jacqueline C. Romero said Tuesday.

Arrested were Wylene Johnson, 41, Chester; Tameka Edmonds, 32, Marcus Hook; and Cookie Bundy, 41, Hakeem Cooper, 42, Louis Barnett, 43, and Barry Mitchell, 33, all of Philadelphia.

“The amount of pandemic program fraud uncovered in the last two-plus years is utterly offensive,” said Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “This was emergency financial assistance meant to keep families, businesses, and the economy afloat, not a golden ticket for crooks and opportunists to live the high life. As these mounting indictments show, the FBI continues to investigate those who so eagerly defrauded the government and we’re committed to holding each and every one accountable for their crimes.”

The feds gave this account:

Johnson, Bundy, Cooper, Barnett and Mitchell are each charged with four counts of mail fraud and one count of theft of government money in the submission of applications.

They submitted (or caused to be submitted) nearly 100 fraudulent applications resulting in a loss to the government of nearly $1 million. All of the applications submitted as part of this scheme listed Johnson’s former address in Philadelphia as the mailing address for benefits. After the benefits were mailed to this address, those charged allegedly accessed either the checks or debit cards issued on the applications.

Also Johnson, Barnett, and Mitchell are also each charged with three counts of theft of government money for allegedly submitting fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications to the Small Business Administration for businesses that did not exist.

In that scam, Johnson allegedly received about $52,000 from the SBA, which she allegedly spent on personal items. Barnett and Mitchell also allegedly received emergency advances from the SBA which they spent on personal items.

This month when federal agents took the suspects into custody, firearms and ammunition were recovered from the residences of Bundy and Mitchell, and there were charges for that as well.

Edmonds is charged with three counts of mail fraud and three counts of theft of government money for allegedly submitting fraudulent PUA, EIDL, and Paycheck Protect Program applications. Edmonds also spent the proceeds of the scam on personal items.

“Thieves who attempt to take these funds under false pretenses are taking advantage of others’ misfortune — ripping them off while also ripping off all taxpayers who fund the programs,” Romero said.

Romero’s office provided this review:

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) was signed into law. The CARES Act created the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides unemployment benefits to individuals not eligible for regular unemployment compensation or extended unemployment benefits, including individuals, families, and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eligibility to receive weekly PUA benefits is predicated on an applicant’s unemployment for reasons related to the pandemic, and it requires that the applicant was able to work each day and, if offered a job, would have been able to accept it. Once an applicant is approved to receive benefits, the applicant is required to submit weekly certifications indicating that he or she: was ready, willing and able to work each day; was seeking full time employment; did not refuse any job offers or referrals; and had reported any employment during the week and the gross pay or other payments received.

“An important part of the mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of fraud related to unemployment insurance programs. We will continue to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of allegations,” stated Syreeta Scott, special agent-in-charge of the Philadelphia Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

This case was investigated by the United States Department of Labor — Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Everett Witherell and Timothy Lanni, the Philly U.S. attorney said.

The press release didn’t specify if the suspects were incarcerated.

The owners of a former Sunoco refinery that straddles the Delaware/Pennsylvania line will pay $750,000 in fines for what state regulators called illegal modifications to equipment that allowed tons of potentially hazardous gases to be released into the air over two years.

Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, which owns the industrial complex that stretches from Marcus Hook to Claymont, has agreed to pay the penalties. But the company "expressly disputes" the allegations lodged by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, according to state documents.

Marcus Hook’s fortunes rest on new buried treasure: gas

"SPMT has been transparent about our operations," company spokesman Jeff Shields said in an email. "We are and have been committed to operating the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex and other facilities according to state environmental regulations for emissions in Delaware and Pennsylvania."

SPMT is a subsidiary of pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners, the main company behind the controversial Dakota Acces Pipeline that President Donald Trump helped to advance in early 2017.

Energy Transfer Partners bought Sunoco for nearly $5.4 billion in 2013 and then merged with Sunoco Logistics in a deal valued at $21 billion.

The latter deal included the local refinery complex that entails 80 acres in Pennsylvania and 45 acres in Delaware known as the Ethylene Complex, along with the Mariner East pipeline that carries propane and ethane to Marcus Hook.

Since then, the Marcus Hook facility has been undergoing a transformation that will turn the former refinery into a hub for its natural gas liquid pipeline, while the Delaware side has seen little development.

A 240-foot-tall gas flare on the Delaware side that was supposed to burn up excess gases released during an emergency is now costing SPMT three-quarters of a million dollars in fines.

According to DNREC, the flare was modified at some point to receive gases from multiple sources throughout the Marcus Hook side of the facility, although no permit for those changes was ever sought by the company.

The modifications also allowed the facility to release roughly 45 tons of potentially harmful gases from 2014 through 2015 without DNREC's permission or knowledge, agency officials said.

Neither the settlement agreement released Friday nor a violation notice issued to SPMT in August specifies the exact amounts or types of volatile organic compounds that were released.

Other documents obtained by The News Journal show the pollution included corrosive chemicals such as hydrogen chloride and hydrogen flouride, along with nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to respiratory problems and other health issues.

Those substances also have been of increasing concern to DNREC, which recently has filed lawsuits and petitions aimed at out-of-state sources of those gases that state regulators say are contributing to health problems in Delaware.

The flare modifications in Claymont were discovered by DNREC in June 2016, according to state records.

At that time, SPMT was seeking a permit to install a new flare in Claymont to replace the existing structure.

The company notified DNREC that its initial application contained emission data based on the flare's permitted use for emergencies and not its actual, modified use to burn off gases from other sources, the agency reported.

DNREC later rejected SPMT's application as "incomplete."

SPMT has since sought permission from Pennsylvania officials to construct a new flare in the Keystone State that will burn off gases throughout the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex.

Under the settlement reached with the company, DNREC will allow the Delaware flare to continue receiving those gases until the new Pennsylvania flare is fully operational.

In the next 30 days, the company also will pay a $600,000 fine to resolve the nine regulatory violations cited by DNREC. Another $150,000 in fines will be paid to help cover the cost of upgrades to DNREC's air quality monitoring system.

Settling what SPMT has characterized as "potential inconsistencies in our permitting," could be vital to the company's future plans in Delaware.

State officials have long looked with envy at SPMT's $5 billion investment in upgrades in Pennsylvania and the associated 5,000 construction jobs created by that work.

Extending those upgrades into Delaware became a little easier last year when Gov. John Carney and the Delaware General Assembly amended the state's Coastal Zone Act for the first time in its nearly 50-year history.

Shields, the SPMT spokesman, said Friday that the settlement "will clear the way for future development and investment on the Delaware side of the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex."

NATURAL RESOURCES IN DELAWARE

Delaware City Refinery to pay $218,000 in state fines

Dwindling DNREC funds: Fewer fines or fewer polluters to blame?

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, [email protected] or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.