A state Department of Environmental Protection hearing on the operations of Shell Polymers Monaca’s ethane cracker plant on Tuesday night drew around 100 attendees, many of whom said they favored the sprawling factory’s latest permit application.
The hearing at Penn State Beaver lasted two and a half hours as 49 speakers shared testimony. The permit under consideration would be temporary and would last 180 days if no extensions are granted, one in a series of similar permits before the company and agency move toward a full operating permit, called a Title V.
Of the public speakers, 37 favored the proposal in its current form, which would raise the facility’s emissions allowances for seven air contaminants. The speakers included several local and state politicians, as well as industry and trade leaders.
Proponents spoke of the approximately 500 people who work at the Beaver County plant, as well as the economic benefits its construction brought to the region between 2015 and 2022. They also brought up donations the company has made and investments in trade education at the community college.
“Shell has been a great community partner to many small businesses and to many local nonprofits throughout Beaver County,” said Lance Grable, president of the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce.
Kenneth Broadbent, business manager at Steamfitters Local 449, spoke in support of the plant, which he said employed 2,700 union workers during construction. He also suggested that the plant could do more to employ Pennsylvanians in the future.
When one of the plant’s furnaces exploded last June, Broadbent said, the company brought in 110 workers from Louisiana to do repairs. “The building trades and construction workers from Southwestern Pennsylvania built that plant,” he said. “If we’re gonna give tax credits, Pennsylvania workers should come first.”
The 12 critics of the permit focused on its environmental and health impacts, as well as concerns that the plant has routinely violated the temporary permits it has so far operated under.
Beaver County resident Brooke Hamberger drew applause as she shared a personal story of the health effects she attributes to the plant. She moved to Beaver to study engineering at Geneva College 15 years ago, and built a life there as an engineer. When Shell began operation in the fall of 2022, she said, her health quickly declined.
“When they release excessive harmful emissions, I experience debilitating neurological and physical conditions such as vomiting, tremors, severe pain, confusion, memory issues and many other systemic issues,” she said. Her condition has caused her to lose her career, income, time with her family and relationships, she added, as well as cost her thousands of dollars in medical bills.
As she seeks a clear diagnosis, her doctor has suggested she leave the county to decrease her exposure to possible pollutants that could be prompting her symptoms. “I was so relieved to finally have an answer,” she said, “but heartbroken I have to choose between my home and my health.”
Shell told Public Source in March that it is “committed to protecting people, the environment, and to being a responsible neighbor in the communities where we live and work.”
Beaver County resident Christine Rockwell spoke with Public Source before her testimony at the hearing, and expressed concern that the DEP is not providing enough oversight to allow a new operating permit to take effect with higher emission rates.
“The testing schedule is bare minimum, and way too cumbersome to assist in crisis,” she said, citing the furnace explosion last June. The incident took place at 2:20 p.m., but the community was not notified until four hours later via a Facebook post from Shell. She also cited routine complaint response delays.
“I was a teacher for many years in the district [Central Valley] that Shell is in. So my biggest concern is the kids. There’s so much around here that the Department of Environmental Protection just lets go,” she said.
“I’m not against the Shell plant. I just know that there’s ways that we could make it work and somebody’s got to identify that,” she said.
The DEP has said in statements to Public Source that it is using a range of tools and methods to protect public health around the plant and that the latest proposed permits should “resolve outstanding compliance issues.”
Hilary Starcher-O’Toole, president of Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Committee, said she was surprised by the amount of support for the petrochemical giant. “It seems like there was a huge effort made on Shell’s part to make sure that members of the community were present and here and speaking favorably on their behalf, so that was kind of tough for me.”
O’Toole was also concerned that public officials and industry affiliates were overrepresented. Three of the first five speakers were current or former members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and there were also several members of Beaver County government.
“It’s great that people know about it because we want all voices heard here,” O’Toole said. “It just seems very coincidental that all of the elected officials that we have in this area would have either registered in the first 12 hours and all got put first, and that it was a huge outpouring of support, and then all the environmentalists were put last.”
The proposed operating permit will increase Shell’s emission limits for nitrogen oxides and other harmful irritants. Shell has exceeded its current limit for NOx since operation began in 2022 and has not been fined for these violations since May 2023.
The DEP will accept written testimony from those unable to attend the hearing until April 17.
Katherine Weaver is an editorial intern at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at katherine@publicsource.org.
This story was fact-checked by Jamie Wiggan.
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