RESIDENTS, GROUPS CALL ON POTTER TOWNSHIP TO DENY SHELL CRACKER PERMIT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 17, 2017
RESIDENTS, GROUPS CALL ON POTTER TOWNSHIP TO DENY SHELL CRACKER PERMIT
Location: Potter Township Municipal Building, 206 Mowry Road, Monaca, PA
Concerned residents and organizations will host a press conference on Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m. before an important Potter Township Supervisors meeting. During the meeting, supervisors are expected to consider and possibly grant final approval on a Conditional Use Permit Shell applied for to construct its proposed Cracker Plant. This permit would essentially allow construction of the plant to begin.
Citizens will speak and highlight their concerns about the cracker plant and the lack of accountability and transparency from Potter Township Supervisors during the permit application process. .
“An international corporation is proposing to build this billion-dollar petrochemical plant,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel for Clean Air Council. “Shell should be expected to adhere to the most stringent requirements possible, yet Potter Township Supervisors have so far failed to properly assess the extremely technical application materials and have not yet included needed health and safety-protective conditions on this project. Potter Township must deny Shell’s permit for failing to comply with the Township’s own ordinance. The Township is essentially allowing Shell to proceed largely unchecked. Shell should not be allowed to build this plant on their own terms, but on the terms of residents of Potter Township and surrounding townships.”
Terri Baumgardner, a Beaver County Resident and member of the Marcellus Awareness Committee, adds: “The supervisors have not clearly addressed the concerns related to noise, lighting, and traffic that were raised by the independent experts who testified to the inadequacies of the application materials. When the Supervisors approved a motion on Jan. 11 directing the solicitor to draft a resolution for approving the permit with conditions, they did not share with the public any conditions to be incorporated into the resolution. The public has been kept in the dark by the supervisors as to what these conditions might be.”
#SHellNo #BeaverCounty
Contact:
Dave Smith, Clean Air Council
dsmith@cleanair.org; 412-954-8494
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Clean Air Council is a member- supported, non-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting everyone’s right to breathe clean air. The Council is headquartered in Philadelphia and works through public education, community advocacy, and government oversight to ensure enforcement of environmental laws. For more information, please visit www.cleanair.org.
