Earth Quaker Action Team Plans A Protest Jan. 8 At Covanta Plant In Conshohocken

CONSHOHOCKEN, PA — An environmental justice organization is planning a protest this coming weekend in front of the trash incinerator operated by Covanta Holding Corp., citing concerns about pollution impacting the community due to the company's activities.

The Earth Quaker Action Team says it plans to protest Jan. 8 beginning at 2 p.m. at the Covanta Plymouth Incinerator at 1175 Academy Drive in Conshohocken.

The group plans to meet at the intersection of Industrial Way and Academy Drive.

"Vanguard's investments are hurting people and the planet," the group wrote on its website. "Vanguard was the second largest shareholder in Covanta Holding Corporation, the operator of the trash incinerator in Conshohocken, along with several other trash incinerators in the region, contributing to pollution in our region and beyond, before Covanta was bought by EQT Infrastructure, a private equity firm that recently acquired the waste management company."

The group says materials being burned by trash incinerators would better be recycled or composted, and that the burning trash materials actually create more air pollutants than those caused by burning coal.

The Earth Quaker Action Team says this also translates to an environmental justice issue, since trash incinerators like the one in Conshohocken are often located in communities of color and those home to lower income residents.

"They are also terrible for climate change, 2.5 times as bad as coal, according to EPA data," the group wrote, citing a Trash Incineration Fact Sheet put out by the Energy Justice Network.

More information about the Earth Quaker Action Team can be found here.

Those interested in attending this Saturday's protest can sign up here.