Petrochemical Plants

Introduction

Most people associate “fracking” with methane gas, which is used for cooking, heating, and making electricity, and exported as liquified natural gas (LNG). But there are other byproducts that also come out of fracking wells, including ethane, a common raw ingredient in petrochemicals and plastics. In fact, so much ethane is being extracted in Pennsylvania that a new large-scale petrochemical plant has been constructed to process and refine the materials, and industry has discussed the possibility of even more in the region.

The large-scale petrochemical facilities that process ethane into plastics are known as “ethane crackers” or “cracker plants”. Ethane is “cracked” into ethylene by superheating and is turned into plastic pellets known as nurdles. Nurdles are used to create single use and other plastic items. Now there are plans in place to construct these large-scale petrochemical facilities in the Ohio Valley region. These facilities would create plastics from chemicals found in fracked gas without having to export the raw feedstock abroad. 

Shell is constructing a $6 billion dollar ethane cracker in Potter Township, Beaver County to convert some of the region’s ethane into plastic. The plant will have the capacity to produce 1.6 million metric tons of plastic nurdles each year. Shell’s Appalachia plant was planned as the anchor for a Petrochemical Hub of crackers across the Ohio River Valley atop massive underground storage caverns, but it is the only facility to reach the construction stage. Pennsylvania courted Shell to build its plant with a $1.65 billion tax break. Pennsylvania taxpayers are subsidizing the creation of 1.8 million tons per year of plastic nurdles.

Along the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania, the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex (MHIC) marks the endpoint of the Mariner East pipeline system. The Mariner East pipelines transport natural gas liquids (NGLs) like ethane, propane and butane processed from fracked gas wells in Western Pennsylvania to the MHIC. MHIC is a sprawling NGL hub that spans 788 acres and processes upwards of 255 million barrels per day of NGLs. These materials are then loaded onto ships in the Delaware River, which travel down the Delaware Bay to export the NGLs to Europe and Asia for plastics manufacturing. 

The Council calls for an end to new petrochemical facilities along with a major reduction in single-use plastic products, improved recycling, and the development of non-fossil fuel-based plastics.

The Problem

Petrochemical facilities like the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex (MHIC) and Shell’s cracker plant are permitted to release hundreds of tons per year of fine particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). PM can exacerbate health conditions including asthma, cardiovascular disease, and adverse birth outcomes. HAPs are pollutants known to, or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health impacts to the nervous system. VOCs can react with nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the air to create ground-level ozone (smog), which can exacerbate respiratory conditions such as asthma, COPD and other lung related health conditions and diseases. Some VOCs, such as benzene, are known human carcinogens. These facilities also produce a significant quantity of climate-warming greenhouse gasses. 

The enormous Shell facility will require fracked gas from 1,000 active wells at least every five years. That will result in more pollution from all of the infrastructure used to get the gas from the well to the cracker plant. Shell Pipeline’s Falcon Pipeline is a 97-mile network designed to transport 107,000 barrels of ethane per day to Shell’s cracker plant from natural gas processing plants in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The pipeline crosses 22 townships in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. 

In the suburban Philadelphia communities surrounding MHIC, residents in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color bear the brunt of this toxic air pollution, with increased asthma and cancer rates and other health impacts. Residents in rural communities near the Shell cracker plant and other petrochemical processing facilities may be subjected to similar environmental hazards and health impacts.

The Solution

We should strive to greatly reduce or eliminate single-use plastic products like bottled water and plastic grocery bags from our everyday lives, figure out better ways to reuse and recycle much more plastic, and promote the development and manufacturing of non-fossil fuel-based plastics for other products. At the same time, we must ensure that current petrochemical plants are abiding by the law and not polluting more than they are allowed to.

Current campaigns 

The Council continues to support and is an active participant in the ReImagine Beaver County (RBC) initiative (launched in 2017) to encourage the development of a long-term plan for a viable economic-development and jobs alternative to the petrochemical industry. This work has included both educating residents about alternative paths to economic development and cultivating ties to incubate this development. RBC is now part of the ReImagine Appalachia movement and poised to recruit green energy investors. 

The Council also works to support the Marcus Hook Area Neighbors for Public Health, a group of residents from Marcus Hook, Trainer, Lower Chichester and Upper Chichester who are concerned about the public health impacts of pollution from local refineries, petrochemical plants, and other industrial infrastructure. 

Take Action

• Contact us now to get involved in monitoring air pollution levels around the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex and from the Shell cracker plant (once operations begin in 2022). 

• Contact us to learn how to get more involved in campaigns to address additional fracking, which will be required to support and sustain the Shell Cracker Plant and the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex.

Recent successes

• As a result of a collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, the Council has actively worked to support the installation of air monitors to better detect PM, VOCs, and HAPs in the air around the Marcus Hook Community (2021).

• Launched the ReImagine Jobs Showcase website, an educational website showcasing nine promising sectors of potential green economic development in Southwest Pennsylvania (2020). 

• As a result of public pressure, and legal action by Clean Air Council, Potter Township, where the Shell plant is located, added additional requirements to Shell’s zoning permit related to increased analysis of lighting, noise, traffic, and dust concerns (2017).

• As a result of pressure from local residents and a lawsuit by the Council and its partner Environmental Integrity Project, Shell agreed to install and operate a fenceline air monitoring program to detect air pollution that travels outside the site boundary and make needed repairs. The fenceline monitoring program at the petrochemical facility will have different types of monitors that will continuously monitor concentrations of volatile organic compounds.  Data from the monitors, along with information on Shell’s response to pollution incidents, will be publicly available on an easily accessible website (2018).

• As a result of the above lawsuit, the Council was successful in getting additional requirements that will ensure flaring at the plant is done as efficiently as possible to ensure that 98% of pollutants from this process are destroyed (2018).