That catastrophic event turned him into a filmmaker.
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Bilal Motley's documentary, "Midnight Oil," is now streaming.
In June 2019, Motley was working full-time at Philadelphia Energy Solutions.
On the side, he was an aspiring screenplay writer.
On the day of the explosion, he picked up his cell phone and started filming.
"I was there when it happened," Motley says. "I had about an hour left on my shift. Our lives would change forever after that explosion. I tried to show that in the film."
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Motley's documentary goes deep into the concepts of how energy sectors affect our climate, and what he calls environmental injustice.
"I could no longer sit on the sidelines," Motley says. "It's painful to watch it because I lost a lot of friends from this. A lot of people don't talk to me anymore on the plant because I took a stance and said that it should not reopen. The community doesn't want it. And it does hurt. I do miss them. It's been really complicated for me."
"Midnight Oil" is streaming now as part of Black Public Media's AfroPoP Digital Shorts Series.
Motley's next film, "Trash and Burn," is about America's largest trash incinerator in his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania. It will debut later this year.
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