Beaver County

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    Shell Gives “Transformational” $1M Gift to Pa. Community College

    Shell Chemicals this week announced the donation of a $1 million gift to the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC). The gift will benefit the school’s process technology program and will be used to construct a new Shell Center for Process Technology Education building. CCBC President Chris Reber called it a “transformational gift” and an “extraordinary investment.” The gift will ultimately help train students to work for Shell and other companies that will benefit from Shell’s ethane cracker plant (being built in Beaver County). This isn’t the first huge gift for the process technology program at CCBC. In December, the Allegheny Foundation donated $1 million toward the first phase of the program’s expansion. Shell’s donation will fund the second phase. Aside from the big $1M announcement, Shell also awarded $2,500 (each) scholarships to 13 students in the CCBC process technology program. Shell has really stepped up to the plate in SWPA. They are investing in local talent and local institutions…
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    Energy Transfer Wants to Build New Compressor Station in SWPA

    New Sewickley Township (Beaver County), PA

    In June 2015, MDN reported on an important new project in the Marcellus/Utica being built by Energy Transfer Partners (see ETP Announces $1.5B Revolution Pipeline/Plant Project in SWPA). The project, dubbed the Revolution Project, includes a 100-mile gathering pipeline system in Butler County, PA (lots of wet gas to move), along with a new cryogenic gas processing plant to be constructed “in western Pennsylvania”–which we later discovered is in Washington County, PA. The original plan was to have the cryogenic processing plant (in Washington County) up and running by 2Q17. That didn’t happen. We spotted a story from September last year which said it was due to go online “later this year”–meaning by the end of 2017. Is it online now? We don’t know/couldn’t find out. Possibly. What we do know is that the cryogenic plant will separate the wet gas into methane and NGLs, and that the NGLs will hitch a ride on the Mariner East 2 Pipeline all the way to Marcus Hook. That’s the plan. The pipeline itself that gathers and sends wet gas to the cryogenic processing plant has one compressor station to compress the gas and send it on its way. However, Energy Transfer wants to build a second compressor station to assist. And they want to build it now, as in right now, before summer, in New Sewickley Township (Beaver County)…
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    Ambridge Water Authority Strongly Opposes Shell Ethane Pipe Route

    Shell has had pretty smooth sailing with their proposed 97-mile Falcon ethane pipeline project–a pipeline that will feed the mighty $6 billion cracker plant Shell is building in Beaver County, PA. Shell did not use eminent domain but instead negotiated with (paid big bucks for) rights of way along the pipeline’s path. That process continues. There have been some grumblings here and there, particularly from Big Green groups. But all in all, there has been remarkably little opposition–that is, until now. Shell filed an application to build the Falcon project back in October (see Shell Files PA Application for Ethane Pipe to Feed Cracker Plant). On Jan. 20, Shell filed an application for federal stream crossing permits–something the PA State Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issues (see PA DEP Invites Public Comment on Shell 60-Mile Ethane Pipeline). Because of the stream crossing application, the Ambridge Water Authority (in Beaver County), an organization that oversees a reservoir that provides drinking water for ~30,000 people, is expressing “strong opposition” to the route of the Falcon pipeline. Wait a minute. Didn’t Ambridge know the route back in October, when Shell first filed? Yes. However, the stream crossing permit application reveals details either not in, or not obvious, in the original application–details that the pipeline will go under three streams that feed the Ambridge reservoir. That’s got the board up in arms. In a statement, the Water Authority said, “we will do everything in our power to try and have the pipeline relocated outside of our watershed and away from our main, and only, raw water line.” Whether or not there’s any legitimacy to their concerns, Shell now has a PR situation on its hands–the old “it’s going to poison our drinking water” canard that’s a favorite of those who oppose drilling and pipelines. It will be interesting to see how Shell handle’s this situation…
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    Landowners Who Negotiate with Shell Ethane Pipeline Get More $

    In February 2016, MDN exclusively broke the news that Shell had begun to sign leases with landowners for a 97-mile ethane pipeline (two branches) to feed their mighty cracker plant (see Exclusive: Shell Leasing Land for 2 Pipelines to PA Cracker Plant). Since that time we’ve tracked any news we could find that reveals what Shell is paying landowners in Beaver County (and elsewhere) for the right to run the ethane pipeline (called the Falcon Ethane Pipeline) across their land. So far, we’ve seen rates as high as $75 per foot, and as low as $43 per foot. We just spotted another mention. An extensive (and well written) article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interviews a number of landowners who have dealt with Shell, signing leases to allow the ethane pipeline across their land. The article opens with the story of a couple and their attempt to negotiate with Shell. If you play too hard to catch, Shell might route the pipeline around your land, onto your neighbor’s land instead. But sign too early, and maybe you’re leaving money on the table. It’s a fine line–causing stress and strain. In reading the article we really perked up when we read about Ed Bilik, founder of Greensburg-based Western Pennsylvania Gas Leasing Consultants. Ed was the first guy to sniff out the eventual path of the pipeline–which he did by knocking on doors to see where Shell landmen had already visited. Bilik eventually got 41 landowners to sign with him, allowing Bilik to help them with negotiations. According to Bilik, “Shell started out offering $40 per foot for the right to lay two pipelines.” Bilik would not say how much his clients eventually got from Shell, but he did say this: “We exceeded that [amount] multiple times,” meaning his clients got a whole lot more than $40/foot when they signed. Here’s a portion of this enlightening article…
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    MDN Guide to Finding a Job at the Shell Cracker Plant

    Although Shell’s mighty $6 billion ethane cracker chemical complex won’t be completed until around 2020, Shell is not waiting with respect to recruiting talent to operate the plant. Shell recently launched a page on their main website dedicated to recruiting people for cracker plant jobs (see that page here). Please note these are not jobs building the plant, but instead are jobs working at the plant, after it’s built. The CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, KDKA Channel 2, noticed the Shell jobs page for the cracker project and reports that “there are no job listings yet, those interested can sign up to receive email alerts when job listings are posted to the site.” It’s true folks can now sign up to receive new job postings via email. However, KDKA missed the fact that there are several jobs already posted related to the cracker facility…
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    Milestone: Construction Begins on Shell Cracker Plant Buildings

    A major milestone has been reached in the mighty Shell $6 billion ethane cracker facility project. Over the past year or so site preparation has been vigorous. Work at the site in Monaca (Beaver County), PA has included building bridges, relocating a state highway, improving existing interchanges, repositioning a rail line, and preparing foundations for the new complex. The prep work is now largely done–and this week begins construction of the buildings that will house four processing units–the ethane cracker itself and three polyethylene units. Also part of this next (final) phase of construction: a 900-foot long cooling tower, rail and truck loading facilities, a water treatment plant, an office building and a laboratory. Oh! And let’s not forget that Shell will also build a 250 megawatt electric generating plant that will provide all of the electricity needed at the facility–powered by Marcellus Shale gas, of course! Here’s an update from Shell, with a picture of the site as it is now…
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    Shell Taps Brit to Run the $6B Ethane Cracker Project in Monaca

    Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker plant facility in Monaca (Beaver County), PA is about to ramp up construction of the numerous buildings that will house the equipment. Since 2014, Ate Visser, vice president of Appalachia petrochemicals at Shell Chemical, has been the guy in charge of the project (see Shell Exec Shares Inside Story of Why They Chose PA for Cracker). However, beginning now, Hilary Mercer, a native of Manchester, England (has worked at Shell for the past 30 years) is now the woman in charge of the project. Mercer is the new vice president of the cracker plant project. She has an interesting, globe-trotting history. Mercer says she likes to build “big projects.” Prior to landing in her role in PA, Mercer was in South Korea overseeing construction of the largest floating structure ever built. But building the huge cracker facility isn’t the only thing that jazzes Mercer about the project. She’s pumped at the prospect of building the commercial side–building a business from the ground up. Finding customers, branding, everything that comes with creating demand for the output from the mighty cracker facility. Here’s a look at the new leader of the Shell cracker plant project…
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    Need for SWPA Construction Workers: Shell Cracker, Other Projects

    An extensive article in the Pittsburgh Business Times calls attention to the developing shortage of qualified construction workers in southwest Pennsylvania. So far the need for workers has been met, but it’s not hard to predict that as Shell ramps up its “vertical construction” (building the buildings to house the cracker) this fall, that shortages will happen–not only for Shell’s project, but for other expansion projects in the area as well. Shell is the anchor. There are dozens (perhaps hundreds) of other businesses that will launch, relocate or expand to take advantage of Shell’s forthcoming supply of cheap plastics. All of those projects will create thousands of jobs in the construction industry. Various colleges and unions have launched training programs to meet the need for electricians, carpenters, iron workers, steamfitters, insulators and sheet metal workers. Question is, will it be enough?…
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    Shale Boom Saves U.S. Petchem Industry – Shell Cracker “2nd Wave”

    A decade ago the petrochemical industry in the U.S. was in the toilet–in the midst of a downturn. Plants were leaving our shores, heading to other countries. And then the shale revolution hit full force–and changed everything. Petrochemical plants and investment is now skyrocketing here at home, because of shale. Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum (i.e. oil) and natural gas. The entire plastics industry comes from oil and gas–you knew that, right? Ethylene (which comes from ethane) and propylene (which comes from propane) are used to make polyethylene and polypropylene respectively–that is, plastics. And plastics are used in just about everything you touch, live in, ride in, etc. Plastics make modern life possible. Without plastics, we’d be back in the Stone Ages–living short, brutish lives. Ten years ago our petrochemical industry was flailing, but today it’s thriving. According to an expert speaking last week at Pittsburgh Chemical Day (an annual event), the Shell ethane cracker now under construction is in the “the second wave” of ethane crackers. According to the same expert, we are witnessing the “biggest buildup in the U.S. petrochemical industry we have ever seen.” And it’s all because of shale…
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    Shell Holding Career Expo in SWPA Oct 12 to Discuss Cracker Jobs

    While the Teamsters are holding a job fair today and tomorrow in Harrisburg to recruit for pipeline workers (see today’s lead story), next week Shell and the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) will hold two back-to-back career expos on the other side of the state, in the Pittsburgh region, to “inform residents about all the current and emerging job opportunities” at Shell’s ethane cracker plant. On Thursday, Oct. 12, Shell will host the Pennsylvania Chemicals Military Petrochemical Day from 8am to 2pm–for former military service members. The event will be held in room 9103 of CCBC’s Learning Resources Center. Then at 6pm on the 12th, a free career expo will be held at the CCBC Dome–open to the public. Preregistration is not required, but is encouraged. This is your chance to meet with folks face-to-face who can help you land a job working on (or in) the mighty Shell ethane cracker. Don’t miss it!…
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    Big Green Group PennFuture Targets Shell Cracker w/Smear Campaign

    Last week the radicals at Big Green group PennFuture launched an advertising campaign that targets both U.S. Steel Corp. and the might Shell ethane cracker. The ad campaign, called “Your Toxic Neighbor” includes big ads on the sides of buses and on billboards in the Pittsburgh region. From the beginning of PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration, PennFuture radicals have populated his administration. Two PennFuture radicals previously in the Wolf cabinet are now gone: former Secretary of Policy, John Hanger (now gone, supposedly to spend more time with his wife and daughter in Massachusetts) and former Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley (fired for conspiring with Big Green groups and getting caught doing it). The one remaining PennFuture radical still in the Wolf cabinet is Secretary of the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Cindy Dunn. Time for Wolf to show her the door too (see Time to Fire Cindy Dunn, Last of Wolf Admin’s PennFuture Radicals). PennFuture tries to pass itself off as some sort of reasonable, pro-environment “let’s just make PA a better place to live” kind of group. Nothing of the sort. They are completely out of the mainstream, which is why we call them what they are: RADICALS. Here’s the latest smear campaign from a fringe group…
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    Shell Pays $43/Foot in Recent Deal for Ethane Pipeline Easements

    Click for larger version

    In February 2016, MDN exclusively broke the news that Shell had begun to sign leases with landowners for a 97-mile ethane pipeline (two branches) to feed their mighty cracker plant (see Exclusive: Shell Leasing Land for 2 Pipelines to PA Cracker Plant). Since that time we’ve tracked any news we could find that reveals what Shell is paying landowners in Beaver County (and elsewhere) for the right to run the ethane pipeline (called the Falcon Ethane Pipeline) across their land. So far, we’ve seen rates as high as $75 per foot, and as low as $43 per foot. In the most recent round of easements–the first signed since August–Shell once again paid landowners $43/foot. Here’s the details of where the latest easements were signed, and for how much…
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    Shale Insight 2017 – Day Two News Roundup

    Shale Insight 2017 is now in the books. Another year, another great show. MDN editor Jim Willis is back in the office, chained to his computer. Next week Jim will share notes he took at the conference. For now, below are highlights from other news source from Day Two of the event. Unfortunately Jim had to leave before the closing keynote, given by former Trump White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. But others were there to hear what Spicer had to say. Day Two began with a focus on the Shell ethane cracker. Members of the Shell team were on hand to describe how this critical project affects the region, and where it fits in the Marcellus/Utica landscape. One of the Shell team members said the skyline at the Beaver County site will change dramatically over the next 12 months as the buildings housing the various components are built. It was a fascinating talk with lots of information. Below is a roundup from Day Two…
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    Community College of Beaver County Preps Students for Cracker Jobs

    Looking to land a job at Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker plant when it’s up and running in a few years? A new program set up by Shell with the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) may give you a leg up. CCBC offers a program in process technology that leads to an associate’s degree. As of this spring, 45 people were enrolled. CCBC expects 70 people to enroll this fall. CCBC’s process technology degree is just one part of their effort to train people for advanced manufacturing careers with Shell and other petrochemical companies. CCBC is partnering with businesses, nonprofits, other colleges to form the Tri-State Advanced Manufacturing Consortium which will help prepare students and retrain workers to meet the needs of energy and manufacturing companies throughout the region. More deets on getting trained for a future cracker job…
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    Did Shell Pull a Fast One on Big Green Groups re Air Permit?

    Earlier this week MDN reported that Shell had settled an action brought by Big Green groups against an air permit issued for their now under construction ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (see Shell Cuts Deal with Big Green Groups re Cracker Plant Air Permit). In 2015, two Big Green groups–the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council and the Washington, DC-based Environmental Integrity Project (both disgusting litigation factories) filed a complaint against Shell to block the air quality permit needed to build the $6 billion ethane cracker in Monaca (see Big Green Groups File to Block Shell Cracker Air Quality Permit). The filing came after the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved the air permit for the facility. The two Big Green groups filed an appeal with the state Environmental Hearing Board, a special court set up to hear appeals of DEP decisions. The groups believe the DEP “should have required more stringent monitoring requirements for fugitive air emissions from Shell.” Specifically the groups wanted fence line monitoring. So Shell “caved” and agreed. But in reading an account of the agreement, it dawned on us, reading between the lines, that perhaps this is what Shell planned all along! That is, Shell already planned to do fence line monitoring. The settlement Shell signed earlier this week ensures the Big Green groups can’t bring any further actions with regard to the air permit. We don’t know for sure, but it seems to us like maybe Shell was playing a long game of chess, and knew this kind of action would come, and held back the fenceline monitoring piece until the right time to play it–trading the fence line monitoring pawn for inoculation against future Big Green litigation. Smart…
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    Shell Cuts Deal with Big Green Groups re Cracker Plant Air Permit

    Exactly two years ago, two Big Green groups–the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council and the Washington, DC-based Environmental Integrity Project (both disgusting litigation factories)–filed a complaint against Shell to block the air quality permit needed to build the $6 billion ethane cracker in Monaca, PA (see Big Green Groups File to Block Shell Cracker Air Quality Permit). The filing came after the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved the air permit for the facility. The two Big Green groups filed an appeal with the state Environmental Hearing Board–a special court set up to hear appeals of DEP decisions. The groups believe the DEP “should have required more stringent monitoring requirements for fugitive air emissions from Shell.” Specifically the groups want fenceline monitoring and restrictions on flaring. Shell caved and gave them most of what they want, signing a settlement agreement last Friday (copy below). Shell did win one important concession: the litigious Big Green groups can’t sue Shell over any of their wild claims in the original filing…
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