Covanta held a Zoom information session March 28 for residents to tell them about plans to reduce nitrogen oxide levels at its Chester incinerator.

The session attended by more than 100 people was not as enthusiastically embraced as Covanta had hoped, writes Kathleen E. Carey for the Daily Times.

Covanta is adding noncatalytic reduction technology on its six boilers at the Chester plant.

Pennsylvania is requiring lower NOx emissions from facilities like the Chester incinerator.

Covanta believes the new reduction technology will put the plant within the state limits.

But the effort didn’t impress too many residents.

“Covanta has been in our community for a long time and we’ve been asking Covanta to do things that would mitigate some of the pollution that is affecting our children, our seniors, our health,” Zulene Mayfield, chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living.

“An 18 percent reduction (of nitrogen oxides) is really a paltry thing.”

Mayfield wants the DEP to have a formal in-person meeting so residents can talk about community needs.

Michael Van Brunt, Covanta’s vice president of Environment & Sustainability told the residents that Covanta’s goal is to minimize impact from the facility on the community.

Read more about the Covanta incinerator and Covanta’s Zoom meeting with Chester residents in the Daily Times.