Ethane

Although Shell maintains flaring and accidental emissions from its new multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA, have not violated state and federal air standards, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) says they have–on numerous occasions. Shell didn’t argue the point, and in May, the company agreed to pay nearly $10 million in fines and “contributions” to benefit the local community (see Shell Cracker Agrees to $10M Shakedown from PA, Restarting Now). Earlier this month, the DEP announced that it had appointed a 17-member committee to figure out how to dole out $5 million to fund local community projects near the cracker (see PA DEP Forms Ctte to Dole Out $5M in Shell Cracker Shakedown Cash). The rest of the money ($4.9 million) will go to the DEP. Many (not all) of the committee members are radical leftists who irrationally hate fossil energy. The committee met and (on Friday) issued a “protocol” for how it will dole out the $5 million in cash.
Read More “Ctte Doling Out $5M in Shell Cracker Shakedown Cash Sets Criteria”

The Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (near Pittsburgh) has experienced a number of problems over the past six months during startup, including flaring and foul odors (see Shell Hosts Virtual Meeting with Community re Cracker Problems). Earlier this month, Shell’s new CEO called the cracker plant problems “technical niggles,” meaning minor irritations (see Shell CEO Calls PA Cracker Plant Problems “Technical Niggles”). It looks like the problems are more than just niggles. The plant is shut down and will remain so for at least “the next few weeks,” according to Shell.
Read More “Shell PA Cracker Plant Remains Shut Down for “Few Weeks” at Least”

The Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (near Pittsburgh) has experienced a number of problems over the past six months during startup, including flaring and foul odors (see Shell Hosts Virtual Meeting with Community re Cracker Problems). Last Thursday, Shell (the mothership company) issued its first quarter update, including a conference call with analysts. Newly-minuted CEO Wael Sawan addressed the issue of the problems at the PA cracker plant, referring to the problems as “technical niggles.” Yeah, he stuck his foot in his mouth.
Read More “Shell CEO Calls PA Cracker Plant Problems “Technical Niggles””

Last night, Shell hosted a virtual community meeting to address air monitoring and recent problems experienced at the company’s ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA. Executives answered questions about the plant’s environmental record over the past six months, including a recent odor event earlier this month (see PA DEP Investigates Bad Odor Coming from Shell Cracker Plant). Christopher Kuhlman, a senior toxicologist hired by Shell to review air data and assess exposure, told attendees that any inadvertent air releases from the plant have been safe for nearby residents. Not everyone agreed.
Read More “Shell Hosts Virtual Meeting with Community re Cracker Problems”

The mighty Shell ethane cracker seems to have “issues” in getting and staying fully up to speed. We’ve previously reported on a series of emergency flaring episodes at the plant (see Shell PA Cracker Plant has Another “Emergency” Flaring Episode). Over the weekend, Shell announced (via Facebook) it was shutting down part of the cracker plant facility “to perform maintenance and conduct repairs on one of our unit systems.” The shutdown requires the plant to once again activate its flaring (burning hydrocarbons) for an unspecified amount of time. Here we go again.
Read More “Shell Cracker Flares Again, Shuts Down Part of Plant for Repairs”

The mighty Shell ethane cracker seems to have “issues” in getting, and staying, fully up to speed. In what has become a pattern, about once a month the cracker plant is forced to use flaring–the burning of hydrocarbons (ethane or natural gas) to safely dispose of said hydrocarbons during an equipment malfunction. It happened a number of times late last year as the plant began to come online (see Shell Cracker Plant has Flaring Episode – Skyline Turns Orange). Another flaring episode happened last month (see Shell Cracker Plant Forced to Flare Again Following “Malfunction”). And, flaring happened again Tuesday evening for three hours, according to a local anti group that keeps cameras trained on the facility 24/7/365.
Read More “Shell PA Cracker Plant has Another “Emergency” Flaring Episode”

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) early last week to the Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, now called the Shell Polymers Monaca facility, for the third time since it officially began operation last November. In a letter dated Feb. 13 (copy below), the DEP stated the facility violated rolling 12-month emission standards in both November and December. Shell faces fines of $25,000 per day for each day the facility exceeds emissions limits. In light of this most recent NOV, two anti-fossil energy groups have asked the DEP to immediately shut down the facility to stop extra air pollution in the region.
Read More “PA DEP Hits Shell Cracker with Emissions NOV, Antis Seek Shutdown”

It hasn’t been a problem-free startup for the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, now called the Shell Polymers Monaca facility. We’ve noted some of the more prominent issues as we’ve spotted them in the news. Things like the plant exceeding allowed air emissions (see PA DEP Issues Violation to Shell Cracker for Exceeding Air Emissions) and flaring at the plant causing the sky to turn orange at night (see Shell Cracker Plant has Flaring Episode – Skyline Turns Orange). There’s a good chance the sky was orange again last night.
Read More “Shell Cracker Plant Forced to Flare Again Following “Malfunction””