On June 21, 2019, Claire Sasko was woken up by the shaking walls of her West Philly home, a glaring orange light and pungent fumes coming in from outside — which she would later find out came from the explosion of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery about three miles away in South Philly.
The blaze caused five injuries and $750 million in property damage. There were 676,000 pounds of carbon emitted and the site with over a century of tumultuous, industrial history was forced to be shut down.
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The refinery, which opened as a petroleum storage facility in 1866, has since been demolished by its new owner Hilco Redevelopment Partners, who plans to transform it into a logistics complex known as the Bellwether District. But Sasko and a team of researchers were determined to not let the site's history — the good and the ugly — be forgotten.
The University of Pennsylvania funded the creation of a website titled "Petrodelphia: America's First Petrochemical Corridor" that was published on Oct. 16 after five years of research by a team of nearly 30 students, freelancers and experts from various fields.
Researchers organized the archives of hundreds of documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, scientific reports and maps that span the facility's 153 years of industrial operations — from its significance as a hub for economic development to its unlikely role as a battleground for civil rights debates related to racial discrimination, unfair labor practices and issues of public health.
"It's not a flashy website, but it's educational," said Jared Farmer, a Penn history professor and principal investigator on the project. "The ultimate goal is to encourage more storytelling because there's much more to be told."
Over generations, it's estimated that over 500 people were injured and over 100 died due to the facility's hazardous work conditions — though the team believes these figures are underestimations.
"I could find nowhere a sign, plaque, marker, monument, or anything that talked about Philadelphia's role in fossil fuel history … or the men who toiled and worked so hard on this very important set of facilities that were crucial to Philadelphia's and the United States' economy," Farmer said. "It's this amazing story of innovation and technology … and it's hard to argue for a vision for a better future unless you know what happened here."
Sasko, 31, an adjunct professor of writing at New Jersey Institute of Technology, was tapped by Farmer to write a narrative history of the site for the project, which she hopes can be used as a template for present-day environmental threats or technological advancements.
"This is super relevant today with newer aspects of the energy industry like AI data centers," she said. "I hope it inspires people to ask what [these industries] are costing. When we don't have clear answers about pollution … or how many people are at risk of harm due to facilities like this, it's really easy to normalize their effects."
HRP, which purchased the 1,300-acre property in 2020 for $222 million, has a vision to build multiple warehouses on the site spanning millions of square feet to create billions of dollars in annual revenue for the city and tens of thousands of new jobs in commerce, manufacturing and warehousing.
While the researchers welcome a new future for the area, they hope the website can be used to inform the property owners, the city and residents to promote equitable development.
"Sites like these are responsible for a slow violence that is easier to ignore than a massive explosion that wakes you up in the middle of the night," Sasko said. "I hope this project serves as a digital monument. History happened in our backyard. Let's remove any walls that stop us from learning from it."