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Guest Essay: Shell Petrochemical Plant Off To A Bad- And Dangerous- Start In Beaver County
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By Joseph Minott, Clean Air Council

This guest essay first appeared in the Beaver County Times on March 19, 2023--

[Note: Shell announced March 25 it was shutting down part of its petrochemical plant in Beaver County for repairs and again starting full natural gas and flammable gases flaring operations for an unknown period of time. Read more here.]

If the first three months of operations at Shell’s petrochemical plant are any indication, the next 30 years are going to be stressful and hazardous for nearby Beaver Country residents.

The community is locked into a lasting and significant source of plastics production and dirty air pollution that will degrade the Commonwealth’s air quality and our environmental legacy for decades to come.

Shell clearly isn’t interested in operating safely or responsibly ― so it’s up to regulators and citizens to force them to get emissions in check.

The Shell Polymers Monaca plant in Potter Township officially began operations in November of last year. Even before opening day, the plant was already posing a threat to the surrounding community.

From the very beginning, Shell has not managed to keep its pollution to safe and legal levels. It has set a terrible precedent for decades to come, and there’s no reason to expect Shell will act differently ― unless it’s forced to do so.

The Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council are taking steps to force Shell to take their responsibility to residents and the environment seriously. Our organizations have filed a notice of intent to sue Shell for the consistent violation of air pollution limits.

In September 2022, the plant emitted 512 tons of volatile organic compounds, nearly reaching in that one month the 12-month permitted limit of its approved volatile organic compound emissions (516.2 tons in any consecutive 12-month period).

These chemicals contribute to smog and can cause nausea, nerve damage and other health problems.

Shell also emitted the dangerous pollutants nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide from sources at the plant in the final months of 2022 at rates that exceed permit limits.

It's important to note that these limits were agreed upon by Shell and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) through an in-depth permitting process.

The fact that Shell began violating them immediately underscores just how little regard its leaders have shown for the residents harmed by the massive facility.

Those residents have had to be extra vigilant in ensuring their families are safe.

The plant has caused unexpected noises in the middle of the night, odd smells, unexpected flaring activities, and more.

With few official updates from Shell, community members and environmental advocates have taken to sharing information on social media and elsewhere to stay informed and connected.

Eyes On Shell is one group monitoring the refinery’s actions and keeping local residents updated.

Clearly, it shouldn’t be left up to citizens and nonprofit groups to decipher flames brightening the skies or chemical odors and figure out how to protect their loved ones.

Shell should be updating the community and taking every action to protect surrounding residents through safer operations and no environmental violations.

The public should be able to rely on DEP to force Shell to do better.

The Shell petrochemicals complex is ground zero for an identity crisis playing out in the fossil fuel space.

As the world recognizes the need to transition away from dirty fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy, companies like Shell are pivoting to massive investments in plastics manufacturing.

The cracker plant on the Ohio River is a prime example: it can produce as much as 3.5 billion pounds of plastic pellets in a single year.

Yet Shell’s own leaders have been caught questioning the impact of three more decades of single-use plastic production and wondering if the company will one day “take responsibility” for all that environmental damage.

We demand that Shell take responsibility now.

It’s time for Shell to take responsibility for the unsafe pollution and start operating under the permitted emissions limits.

It’s time for Shell to take responsibility to inform and protect the community it joined when it began this massive project.

It’s time for Shell to take responsibility for the generations of Pennsylvania families it threatens with its reckless operations and environmental destruction.

Tell your local lawmakers and DEP that it’s time to hold Shell accountable.

Joseph O. Minott is executive director and chief counsel of the Clean Air Council.

NewsClips:

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Shell Temporarily Shuts Down Part Of Beaver County Petrochemical Plant For Repairs Fully Activating Natural Gas, Flammable Gases Flaring System Again For An Unspecified Period Of Time

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Shell Petrochemical Plant Using Water Hoses ‘To Assist In Cooling External Areas Of Ground Flares’ That Need To Be ‘Reinforced’

-- Beaver County Times: Shell Petrochemical Plant To ‘Reinforce’ Ground Flare Stack, Using Water In Meantime To Cool The Flare Burning Off Natural Gas

-- KDKA: Residents Want Answers About Loud Bang, Orange Glow At Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County

-- The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: More Emergency Flaring At Shell’s Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County After Compressor Problem

Related Articles:

-- Shell Petrochemical Plant Had 3-Hour Emergency Flaring Event To Burn Off Flammable Gases In Beaver County  [PaEN]

-- Groups Urge DEP To Temporarily Halt Operations At Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County; File 2nd Notice Of Intent To Sue For Air Pollution Violations  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Groups File Notice Of Intent To Sue Shell Chemical For Air Pollution Violations At Its Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Notice Of Violation To Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County For Air Quality Violations In Sept. - Oct.  [PaEN]

-- Dramatic Video From Carnegie Mellon’s Project Breathe Shows Shell Ethane Plant In Beaver County Flaring Natural Gas Due To Malfunction  [PaEN]

-- Beaver County Residents And Allies Launch New Shell Ethane Plant Accountability Campaign  [PaEN] 

-- Ohio/PA Train Derailment, Pipeline Explosions, Uncontrolled Releases Put Spotlight On Public Health, Safety Threats Posed By Petrochemical, Natural Gas Industrial And Pipeline Infrastructure In PA  [PaEN] 

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 18 to 24; Continuing Violations At Equitrans Gas Storage Area; 6 More New Well Abandonments  [PaEN] 

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 25 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 67 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 25 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions  [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Projects Over $1.5 Million Deficit In Account Funding Oil & Gas Regulation Program In FY 2023-24  [PaEN]

-- Feature-- Remembering March 28, 1979 At The Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant - The Accident No One Thought Would Happen -- Like With Natural Gas Infrastructure Today   [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Shell Petrochemical Plant Off To A Bad- And Dangerous- Start In Beaver County - By Joseph Minott, Clean Air Council  [PaEN]

[Posted: March 20, 2023]


3/27/2023

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