A chemical plant along the Delaware River in Bridesburg has become Pennsylvania's only chemical facility to win a presidential exemption from new federal clean-air requirements, even though it has a history that includes a phenol spill and a recent pollution penalty. The AdvanSix Frankford Plant, located at 2501 Margaret Street in the 19137 ZIP code, makes phenol, acetone and alpha-methylstyrene, and it was granted relief from parts of the EPA's 2024 HON rule under a proclamation signed by President Donald Trump.
The exemption was first detailed in reporting from the Philadelphia Inquirer, which found that AdvanSix is the only chemical facility in the state to receive one of these waivers. As Northeast Times reports, the plant was formerly owned by Honeywell before AdvanSix took it over, and the company describes the Frankford site on its own website as one of North America's largest producers of phenol.
What the Proclamation Says
The relief traces back to Proclamation 11041, signed July 9, 2026, and published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2026, according to the Federal Register. The document lists AdvanSix Resins & Chemicals LLC and its Frankford Plant among the covered sources, exempting them from parts of the EPA's 2024 HON rule for two years beyond the rule's relevant compliance dates.
The proclamation states that the United States relies on a strong chemical manufacturing sector to support energy, national defense, agriculture and health care, per the Federal Register listing. It also asserts that many of the rule's testing and monitoring requirements rely on technologies that are not practically available — language that, the Inquirer's reporting noted, Trump cited alongside national security concerns as justification for granting exemptions nationwide.
Pennsylvania's 17 Exempted Facilities
Pennsylvania had 17 facilities granted exemptions in total, the Inquirer's reporting found, including 12 coal facilities, two sterilizing facilities, two steel facilities and the AdvanSix plant. Nationally, the administration exempted 202 facilities across 39 states and Puerto Rico, according to the same Inquirer account, which cited a New York Times tally and an NRDC map compiled as of October 27, 2026. One of the state's steel facilities to receive an exemption, U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works, was also named among the Pennsylvania sites.
Beyond Pennsylvania, the pattern has been broader still. Trump granted two-year HON rule exemptions to more than 50 petrochemical facilities, and in July he issued 20 more temporary exemptions, according to Yale Environment 360. The HON rule itself covered roughly 220 large petrochemical plants nationwide, with nearly 60 percent located in Texas and Louisiana, Yale Environment 360 reported, and it strengthened requirements for six hazardous pollutants across more than 200 facilities.
The Rule the Exemption Chips Away At
When the EPA finalized the HON rule in 2024, the agency estimated it would prevent 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution every year, per Yale Environment 360's reporting. The rule was also projected to cut emissions of ethylene oxide and chloroprene from regulated plants by almost 80 percent, and to reduce air-toxics-related cancer risks in nearby communities by 96 percent, according to the same account.
That backdrop is part of why the Bridesburg exemption has drawn criticism. Sarah Buckley, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Inquirer that the exemption is not an actual concern about technology availability or national security, calling it instead a ploy to let industry off the hook. Buckley said the exemptions may be intended to delay Biden-era rules until the EPA rewrites them, according to the Inquirer's reporting.
A Plant With a Mixed Track Record
The Frankford Plant's history includes incidents that predate the exemption fight. In 2022, a worker's failure to shut off a valve led to the release of up to 2,000 gallons of phenol near Bridge Street, with some of it potentially entering the sewer system, Northeast Times reported. More recently, the plant was cited for a clean-air permit violation in July and assessed a $20,000 penalty in September, according to EPA records cited by the Inquirer.
AdvanSix could not be reached for comment by the Inquirer. The company's own manufacturing-site page describes the Frankford facility's scale in the phenol market but does not address the exemption, the spill, or the penalty.
