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Shell tries to quash air quality fears as bad smells and elevated benzene counts emanate from Beaver County chemical plant

Apr 26th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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Shell tries to quash air quality fears as bad smells and elevated benzene counts emanate from Beaver County chemical plant

ANYA LITVAK Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [email protected]

When a terrible odor blanketed the area around the Shell cracker plant earlier this month, residents had only their noses and sporadically high readings from public air monitors to assess the situation.

Many were left wondering what they were exposed to and whether it was dangerous.

On Tuesday, Shell officials held a virtual meeting to discuss the air monitoring results surrounding the event. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Odors, pollution leave residents uneasy as Shell reports release at cracker plant

Apr 16th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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Odors, pollution leave residents uneasy as Shell reports release at cracker plant

CHRISSY SUTTLES   Beaver County Times: 14 April 2023

POTTER TWP. – Strong odors from a “release of hydrocarbons” at Shell’s wastewater treatment plant are permeating parts of Beaver County.

Those living, traveling and working near Shell’s ethane cracker plant in Potter Township said the “kerosene-like” scent has persisted for at least two days, causing watering, burning eyes, headaches, nausea and other respiratory issues.

“It smells like if you burned rotten potatoes but used garage chemicals to do it,” said Mary Beth Eastman, a Beaver County resident who lives less than five miles from the plant. “I had a headache all afternoon yesterday, plus nausea. I have a headache again today. My daughter has been coughing for two days. She’s 12.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell: Expect ‘continuous’ flaring at Pennsylvania cracker plant during maintenance

Mar 29th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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Shell: Expect ‘continuous’ flaring at cracker plant during maintenance

CHRISSY SUTTLES   Beaver County Times

MARCH 28, 2023

POTTER TWP. – Residents should expect continuous elevated flaring at Shell’s ethane cracker plant as crews perform maintenance and repairs at the facility.

Shell leadership announced a controlled shutdown of portions of the Beaver County petrochemicals complex Saturday for repairs and maintenance on one of the unit systems.

“This will require us to fully activate our elevated flare for a period of time,” company representatives posted on Facebook. “We apologize for any noise or visual disruption this may cause our friends and neighbors.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s cracker plant is off to a bad (and dangerous) start

Mar 19th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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OPINION

Your Turn: Shell’s cracker plant is off to a bad (and dangerous) start

Joseph Minott  |  Special to The Times

19 March 2023

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. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Residents want answers about loud bang, orange glow at Beaver County Shell cracker plant

Mar 16th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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“Shell has received three notices of violations, submitted at least 10 malfunction reports and violated the prohibition on the visible mission…”: “Those effects can include things like cancer and respiratory aggravation, potentially leading to asthma.”

CBS PITTSBURGH

Residents want answers about loud bang, orange glow at Beaver County Shell cracker plant

BY MEGHAN SCHILLER:  / CBS PITTSBURGH

MONACA, Pa. (KDKA) – Community members in Monaca are demanding answers after a loud bang and an orange glow filled the night sky from across the river at the Shell cracker plant.

Shell posted to Facebook apologizing for the loud noise Tuesday night, but residents KDKA-TV’s Meghan Schiller talked to said the explainer just left them feeling more confused and frustrated, and they still don’t know why there’s a hose spraying water at the plant almost 24 hours later.

“Eyes on Shell got notification from watchdogs around 9:50 or 10 o’clock at night of both the loud booms that are mentioned in Shell’s Facebook post as well as the light,” said Anaïs Peterson, Petrochemicals Campaigner with EarthWorks.

People started sending pictures to the community watchdog group Eyes on Shell. They shared pictures with KDKA-TV showing the dark smoke and bright orange color filling the sky.

“When they’re operating correctly, usually you don’t see any flare, any flame shooting out of the top,” said Dr. Clifford Lau, project manager of the Upper Ohio River Valley Monitoring Group. read more

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Shell cracker plant once again issued pollution violation notice

Feb 19th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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CBS News

Shell cracker plant once again issued pollution violation notice

BY PATRICK DAMP:  / CBS PITTSBURGH

INDUSTRY, Pa. (KDKA) – The Shell cracker plant in Beaver County has once again been issued a pollution violation notice. 

This is the third time the state’s department of environmental protection has said the plant has exceeded emission limits, once again violating rolling 12-month standards in November and December.

The plant has only been operational since November. 

The DEP said in November it emitted 716 tons of volatile organic compounds, 200 tons above what is allowed.  read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

GROUPS URGE PA TO TEMPORARILY HALT OPERATIONS AT SHELL CHEMICAL PLANT FOR ONGOING AIR POLLUTION VIOLATIONS

Feb 17th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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GROUPS URGE PA TO TEMPORARILY HALT OPERATIONS AT  SHELL CHEMICAL PLANT FOR ONGOING AIR POLLUTION VIOLATIONS

Pittsburgh, PA — A pair of environmental organizations today sent a letter to Pennsylvania urging the state to temporarily halt operations at a Shell plastics chemical plant northwest of Pittsburgh that has repeatedly violated air pollution limits and recently released plumes of black smoke for several hours.

Clean Air Council and the Environmental Integrity Project asked the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to temporarily halt operations of the Shell Polymers Monaca plant in Beaver County until the company can demonstrate it can operate in compliance with pollution control laws. read more

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Environmental groups to sue Shell

Feb 9th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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REUTERS

Environmental groups plan to sue Shell’s new Pennsylvania plant over emissions

8 Feb 2023

Two environmental groups announced on Feb. 2, 2023 that they plan to sue Shell Chemical Appalachia over air pollution, just about three months after the startup of operations of Shell’s 1.6-million tonnes per year facility with capacity of polyethylene production, and related ethane cracker in Pennsylvania.

The Environmental Integrity Project said in a press release that along with another environmental group named Clean Air Council it filed “a notice of intent to sue (…) for repeated violations of air pollution limits,” it said. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Pa. advocates issue intent to sue Shell cracker for emissions violations 

Feb 4th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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Pa. advocates issue intent to sue Shell cracker for emissions violations 

JON HURDLE: Inside Climate News: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: FEB 3, 2023

Two environmental groups said on Thursday they intend to sue Shell Chemical Appalachia, operator of a big new petrochemical plant in Potter Township, for its violation of federal and state air-quality standards.

The Environmental Integrity Project and the Clean Air Council gave Shell a required 60 days to respond to their notice of intent to sue on the grounds that the company violated the federal Clean Air Act, a state plan to implement it, a Pennsylvania air-quality law and the state permits under which it is allowed to emit specific quantities of some contaminants. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Flaring emissions dominate pollution from Beaver County’s Shell plant

Jan 23rd, 2023
by John Donovan.
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Flaring emissions dominate pollution from Beaver County’s Shell plant

ANYA LITVAK: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [email protected]: Jan 22 2023

September was a tumultuous month for the Shell chemical plant in Beaver County.

On Sept. 3, a missing O-ring in a circulation pump led to a leak of isobutane vapor. Two days later, brown emissions were seen coming out of high pressure ground flares — two metal combustion chambers that burn off unwanted gasses from the ethane cracker.

Three days after that, two separate flanges leaked hydrocarbons, and an ethylene refrigerant compressor tripped after it registered a high dew-point temperature. It tripped again two days later because of high vibration, which cascaded into a trip of several other systems. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Toxic Shell internal emails

Dec 24th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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“We have questions to answer” about single-use plastic waste, reveal internal emails from Shell

24 Dec 2022

Shell is under scrutiny as a result of internal emails put into the public domain relating to the controversial Shell Petrochemicals Complex situated along the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

Extract from a related article 

The multi-billion-dollar Shell facility was fully operational in November after years of construction and has already been charged by state environmental agencies for exceeding the annual limit for volatile organic compounds that create lung-damaging smog. Among the documents, released on December 9, was an email correspondence within Shell’s communications team. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell air pollution soars during startup of Beaver County cracker plant

Dec 15th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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Shell air pollution soars during startup of Beaver County cracker plant

By Reid Frazier | Allegheny Front

Published December 15, 2022 at 4:00 PM EST

Shell’s Beaver County ethane cracker exceeded state air pollution limits during the months it was preparing to open this fall.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation against the company for going over its limit for volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which are chemicals that create smog. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s flaring at Beaver County cracker plant pushed company over air permit limits, data shows

Dec 15th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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Shell’s flaring at Beaver County cracker plant pushed company over air permit limits, data shows

ANYA LITVAK: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: DEC 15, 2022

Shell Chemicals’ new cracker plant in Beaver County has exceeded its air permit limits for two months in a row, prompting a notice of violation from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The petrochemical plant near Monaca was officially pronounced to be in commercial operations last month, but start up activities began months earlier. In September, the facility had by far its worst air quality month, releasing 492 tons of volatile organic compounds from its high-pressure flare, according to data submitted to the DEP by Shell. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

After years of construction, Shell ethane cracker starts up

Nov 16th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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After years of construction, Shell ethane cracker starts up

Tue, November 15, 2022 at 7:27 PM

MONACA, Pa. (AP) — Years in the works, a massive petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania fed by the vast natural gas reservoir underneath Appalachia became fully operational Tuesday, oil and gas giant Shell plc said.

The refinery, built on the site of a former zinc smelter along the Ohio River some 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Pittsburgh, will produce 3.5 billion pounds (1.6 billion kilograms) of polyethylene annually when it ramps up to full production by the second half of 2023, Shell said. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Environmental groups preparing for production at Shell’s cracker plant

Sep 30th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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Herald-Star

Environmental groups preparing for production at Shell’s cracker plant

MIKE JONES: Staff writer: SEP 30, 2022

MONACA — Environmental groups are mobilizing to monitor air and water quality around Royal Dutch Shell’s soon-to-open petrochemical cracker plant in Beaver County.

Several groups held a joint video conference Tuesday night that attracted more than 200 people who listened how various organizations have already begun testing air and water samples to set a baseline before the plant along the Ohio River near Monaca officially opens later this year.

While most people knew little about Marcellus Shale when the natural gas drilling boom began in Western Pennsylvania and the Tri-State Area in the late 2000s, Environmental Health Project Executive Director Alison Steele said groups like hers are working to educate the public on what to expect from the cracker plant. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Mike Bloomberg commits $85 million to stop petrochemical plants in Ohio Valley, Gulf Coast

Sep 26th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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The announcement comes as the Ohio Valley’s flagship petrochemical project, Shell’s multibillion dollar ethane cracker plant in Potter Township, Beaver County, begins operations after a decade of planning and construction.

Flaring at Shell’s fracked plastic plant in Beaver County, PA. Photo from anonymous source.

Mike Bloomberg commits $85 million to stop petrochemical plants in Ohio Valley, Gulf Coast

LAURA LEGERE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Sept 23, 2022

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is putting his wealth and clout into an effort to halt the expansion of petrochemical manufacturing in the Ohio Valley and two Gulf Coast states with an $85 million campaign.

The billionaire businessman and philanthropist announced Wednesday that the goal of the new Beyond Petrochemicals campaign is to “turbocharge” efforts by local community groups to block new plastics and petrochemical plants and curb pollution from existing plants in three target regions: the Ohio Valley, Louisiana and Texas. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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