Ctte Doling Out $5M in Shell Cracker Shakedown Cash Sets Criteria
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.
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Last Thursday around 30-40 environmental activists (anti-fossil fuelers), along with a handful of local residents, rallied in Beaver, PA, before showing up for the Beaver County Commission regular meeting. The protesters, who want the Shell ethane cracker plant shut down, vented their concerns about the plant to county commissioners. The three county commissioners listened while antis vented for more than an hour (they should receive hazard pay). The problem is, the protesters were in the wrong venue.
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
Yesterday two radicalized Big Green groups–the Environmental Integrity Project (based in D.C.) and the Clean Air Council (based in Philadelphia)–filed a lawsuit against the Shell Polymers Monaca Plant (ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA), claiming the plant has repeatedly violated federal air pollution limits. The lawsuit requests the court assess huge fines and force it close down unless it can operate without any further violations of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and the federal Air Pollution Control Act (APCA). In other words, the radicals seek to shut down the $10 billion plant and keep it shut down–throwing 600 permanent employees out of work. Nice people at the Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council, eh?
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
In late 2015, MPLX (i.e. Marathon Petroleum) bought out and merged in the Utica Shale’s premier midstream company, MarkWest Energy, for $15 billion (see
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
One of the world’s largest chemical companies, the Chemours Company (which you used to know as DuPont), along with TC Energy (which you used to know as TransCanada), announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the potential development of two electrolysis-based hydrogen production facilities at or near Chemours’ Washington Works and Belle manufacturing sites in West Virginia. Both companies are part of the effort to attract a hydrogen hub to West Virginia called Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2). The financial terms of the Chemours/TC Energy deal were not disclosed.

Plastics come from oil and natural gas. You knew that, right? Without plastics, modern life would be
Two weeks ago, MDN did something we don’t often do: We broke news, providing an exclusive that Naceo’s plan to build a $6 billion gas-to-liquids (GTL) refinery on the site of a former coal mine in Newport Township and Nanticoke in Luzerne County, PA, is still alive and active (see
In October 2021, Nacero announced a $6 billion gas-to-liquids (GTL) refinery to be built on the site of a former coal mine in Newport Township and Nanticoke in Luzerne County, PA (see
The mighty Shell ethane cracker has had “issues” getting and staying fully up to speed. Since it officially went online last November, Shell has received three separate notices of violation (NOVs) for exceeding allowable air pollution limits, largely related to repeated flaring episodes (see