{"id":44719,"date":"2025-11-26T00:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T00:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/44719\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T00:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T00:09:10","slug":"electrical-workers-allege-widespread-safety-lapses-at-vicinity-energy-steam-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/44719\/","title":{"rendered":"Electrical workers allege widespread safety lapses at Vicinity Energy steam plant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Electrical workers at the Vicinity Energy steam plant in South Philadelphia say they\u2019ve been exposed to unsafe conditions at the facility for years and the plant\u2019s owners have been slow to make critical upgrades.<\/p>\n

Hazards at the plant included widespread asbestos and inadequate safety measures, such as a lack of arc flash suits to protect a worker in case of an accidental electrical discharge, according to a complaint filed with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).<\/p>\n

Other problems included standing water around large electrical breakers, which led the workers\u2019 union to instruct its members to stop operating the equipment until conditions improved.<\/p>\n

\"\"Persistent unrepaired leaks have left standing water in a room at the Vicinity Energy steam plant where workers operate electrical breakers, creating a safety hazard. (Courtesy of IBEW Local 614)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facilities are so old and so antiquated that there\u2019s water everywhere,\u201d said Lawrence Anastasi, president of Local 614 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. \u201cI said, \u2018No one operates the breaker ever again, until they get the water out of there.\u2019 So now the supervisors are doing it, and they\u2019re not trained or qualified to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Boston-based Vicinity Energy disputed some of IBEW\u2019s claims and said some of the issues it raised have been addressed, including the shortage of arc flash suits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVicinity prioritizes the safety of employees, customers and the communities we serve above all else, and follows all OSHA guidelines,\u201d spokesperson Melissa Crowe said. \u201cAdditionally, we empower every team member with training, resources and stop-work authority to ensure risks are addressed immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Anastasi said this week that Vicinity has still done little to address standing water and other safety issues, or to address a pervasive rat problem and inadequate bathroom facilities for workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got really lucky\u201d<\/p>\n

The plant at Christian Street and Schuylkill Avenue, on the eastern bank of the Schuylkill River in Grays Ferry, dates to 1915 and has been upgraded many times<\/a> since then by different owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a cogeneration plant, meaning it produces both electricity and steam, and it feeds a 41-mile network of pipes carrying steam to hundreds of buildings, including the Wanamaker Building, the University of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Art Museum and Comcast\u2019s office towers.<\/p>\n

Along with conventional natural gas, the plant can run on waste cooking oil, \u201crenewable natural gas\u201d from organic waste, and wind- and solar-generated power, and the company has pitched its steam as a less carbon-intensive and more climate-friendly way<\/a> to heat buildings than standard gas boilers. Vicinity runs similar \u201cdistrict energy\u201d systems in Trenton, Boston and other cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s huge boilers in there, there\u2019s switch gear, there\u2019s big circuit breakers,\u201d Anastasi said. \u201cAnd all that is governed by OSHA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"An explosion rocked the Vicinity Energy steam plant in Grays Ferry in June 2016, blowing out windows in nearby homes. (Jennifer Romano\/6ABC)<\/p>\n

The plant has had safety issues on a few occasions in recent years, both for workers and the nearby residential neighborhood. For example, an apparent steam leak in 2022 created a loud, high-pitched noise<\/a> that neighbors had to endure for about five days and drew a violation notice from the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2016, one of its main boilers exploded<\/a>, blowing out the windows, slightly injuring one person outside, and sending a pillar of red smoke over the building. Sean Finnegan, a 13-year employee who serves as the union\u2019s business manager at the plant, said the accident happened after the company repeatedly failed to fix a gas leak.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got lucky, because everybody was gone for the day. They really got lucky,\u201d he said. \u201cThey could have killed a bunch of people. I mean, we\u2019re in a neighborhood. It\u2019s not like we\u2019re in the middle of nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allegations of ignored concerns<\/p>\n

In July, OSHA issued Vicinity a \u201cserious\u201d citation and an $11,823 penalty for an incident that had apparently occurred in January. Pressurized air had not been cleared from a line leading from a tanker truck to a sodium hydroxide tank, \u201cexposing employees to chemical burn hazards,\u201d according to the citation. The problem was corrected during an inspection.<\/p>\n

Anastasi said a non-union worker was electrocuted and seriously injured earlier this year when he was working on equipment he mistakenly thought had been de-energized, or turned off. In an email, Crowe mentioned an OSHA citation related to unauthorized contractor actions, which she said the company is appealing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Vicinity plant has apparently not seen many serious injuries like those that occurred at the Boston plant in 2021, when a steam pipe rupture<\/a> burned two workers. But this summer, when union officials started preparing for contract negotiations and asked the 57 IBEW members there what they wanted, they brought up safety rather than pay and benefits, Anastasi said.<\/p>\n

\"\"At left, a hole in boiler insulation at Vicinity Energy\u2019s steam plant potentially allows flames to burst out and asbestos to enter the air. Center, a water pipe in the reverse-osmosis plant leaks through a cloth wrapping. At right, white foam covers the floor of a bathroom and locker room at the facility\u2019s Edison Plant at 9th and Walnut. (Courtesy of IBEW Local 614)<\/p>\n

For years, Vicinity Energy and previous owners have simply ignored workers\u2019 concerns, Finnegan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere would be standing water right next to an electrical bus, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Yeah, we got to do something about this.\u2019 And supervisors would giggle and walk away,\u201d he said. \u201cAll right, well, youse just don\u2019t care. I want to go home to my family. I have to operate this stuff, you know? You\u2019re just leaving the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another concern for the IBEW team is decades-old asbestos insulation that is used in many parts of the plant and in some places is exposed and present in the air. The union suspects that two of its members who have cancer \u2014 one with kidney cancer, the other with lung cancer \u2014 got sick from asbestos exposure over many years.<\/p>\n

OSHA complaint prompts some action<\/p>\n

A precipitating incident for the union\u2019s complaint was a small arc flash that occurred recently when a worker was operating one of the facility\u2019s large breakers, which function like on\/off switches for pumps or other equipment. No one was hurt, but employees became concerned, Finnegan said.<\/p>\n

The IBEW officials said they asked for some improvements, but the company reacted slowly or failed to act on the requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One demand is related to the many pieces of electrical equipment at the plant lacking required power rating labels. Those labels let operators know how potentially dangerous the equipment is and what type of arc flash suit or other safety measures are required, Anastasi said.<\/p>\n

According to the union president, Vicinity managers said, \u201c\u2018we got a contractor out here to look at it, to give us a price. It\u2019s just too expensive. It\u2019s going to cost a couple hundred thousand dollars, and we could just do a little at a time.\u2019 I said, \u2018It\u2019s not the employee\u2019s job to create a safe work environment, it is the employer\u2019s job to provide a safe work environment.\u2019 This should have been done years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Aging electrical equipment at the Vicinity Energy steam plant in Grays Ferry. (Courtesy of IBEW Local 614)<\/p>\n

In September, the union filed an OSHA complaint saying Vicinity Energy was not supplying workers with safety equipment, including arc flash suits and dielectric gloves, didn\u2019t have the required labels, and was not protecting employees from asbestos exposure during an abatement project in an area called the Edison Plant.<\/p>\n

OSHA did not conduct an inspection to verify the allegations, but it notified Vicinity of the complaints, according to a letter from the agency that IBEW provided to Billy Penn. That led the company to start making some fixes, although the slow pace of work led Anastasi to consider filing a second complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said the plant also has other problems beyond the safety issues. There are \u201crats everywhere,\u201d he said, and there are no bathrooms in areas like the \u201cDemon plant,\u201d or demineralization plant, where some IBEW members work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the same time, the upstairs offices are being renovated as Vicinity prepares for a possible sale of the facility, he said.<\/p>\n

A dispute over claims of progress<\/p>\n

Vicinity Energy denied some of the union\u2019s complaints. \u201cNo rodent issues have been observed or reported, and running water and restroom facilities are adequately maintained near the demineralization plant,\u201d Crowe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anastasi maintained this week that the site\u2019s rat and mouse problems are well-known to the company, and he said Vicinity has hired a contractor to attempt to reduce their numbers.<\/p>\n

Crowe said the company \u201cmade significant upgrades\u201d to employee work rooms, break rooms and bathrooms, although it was unclear which ones she was referring to. Anastasi said those may be bathrooms for management personnel, since the bathrooms his members use remain in poor condition.<\/p>\n

Vicinity also contended that some of the main safety complaints have been addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cStanding water was mitigated immediately and the root cause corrected,\u201d Crowe said. \u201cThe facility has and continues to supply sufficient arc flash suits and protective equipment,\u201d and the \u201clabeling deficiencies \u2026 are being promptly addressed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Standing water creates a hazard in a room of electrical equipment at the Vicinity Energy steam plant in Grays Ferry. (Courtesy of IBEW Local 614)<\/p>\n

Anastasi disputed those statements. There is still standing water, and IBEW members are still not operating the equipment in those areas, he said. No new equipment rating labels have been added. Each of the plant\u2019s units now has one modern arc flash suit, but there should be individual suits fitted to each employee who needs one, he said.<\/p>\n

On the asbestos issue, Crowe said exposure monitoring showed no employees were exposed to the material as part of the abatement project, and Vicinity has not heard anything further from OSHA. The IBEW officials noted that the agency has gone quiet recently due to the federal government shutdown.<\/p>\n

Crowe did not address the broader issue of asbestos throughout the plant. Finnegan said he recently spent an hour opening a valve in an area of the plant that was very hot \u2014 about 120 degrees, he estimated \u2014 and there was clearly asbestos in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an area that\u2019s called \u2018asbestos heaven.\u2019 That\u2019s what we call it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t go up there very often, but there\u2019s times that we have to go up there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Electrical workers at the Vicinity Energy steam plant in South Philadelphia say they\u2019ve been exposed to unsafe conditions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2328,26575,26576,19811,69,71,70,2934,26577],"class_list":{"0":"post-44719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-energy","9":"tag-grays-ferry","10":"tag-ibew-local-614","11":"tag-osha","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","14":"tag-philadelphia-news","15":"tag-unions","16":"tag-vicinity-energy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}