Growing up in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Shawmar Pitts never thought twice about the oil refinery looming in the background, spewing toxic fumes in plain sight. It wasn’t until years later that he finally made the connection between the refinery and exposure to chemicals that put his community at high risk for life-threatening diseases.
“Every single house, somebody has asthma, somebody has cancer, somebody has those heart diseases and lung diseases that’s caused by these contaminants from the oil refinery,” Pitts said. “All this time, we were wondering why people are getting sick, and the oil refinery is the culprit.”