by Kathy Hipple, Irina Spector, and Jacqueline Ebner | Jul 17, 2024 | Petrochemicals & Plastics, Reports
Download report Plastics are a problem. The world is awash in plastic. It is a major contributor of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and poses risks to workers and communities, especially environmental justice communities. Micro- and nanoplastics are everywhere, and we...
by Ben Hunkler | Jun 6, 2024 | Blog Posts, Petrochemicals & Plastics
The Shell Polymers Monaca petrochemicals complex shadowing the banks of the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, has become something of a symbol in Appalachia. To the many families nearby, it represents a constant, draconic threat, belching episodic flames,...
by Nick Messenger | Feb 27, 2024 | Petrochemicals & Plastics, Reports, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
Download report Download summary & toolkit In 1936, Louisiana launched what is known as the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP), aimed to compete with other states like Mississippi who had begun to massively subsidize corporate manufacturing with tax...
by Nick Messenger, Kathy Hipple, and Anne Keller | Jan 25, 2024 | Petrochemicals & Plastics, Reports
Download report Download summary & digital toolkit In November 2022, over ten years after Shell’s first public announcement of site selection for the project, and after five years of construction, Shell Chemical Appalachia Polymers opened its ethane cracker...
by Staff | Jan 11, 2024 | Blog Posts, Hydrogen & Carbon Capture, Natural Gas, Petrochemicals & Plastics, Repairing the Damage, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
Together, a more prosperous, sustainable, and equitable Appalachia is possible. That’s the vision that has geared our data-driven research, guided our outreach and campaigns, and grounded our work in the region’s community and culture ever since the Ohio River Valley...
by Eric de Place and Julia Stone | Jun 20, 2023 | Petrochemicals & Plastics, Reports
Download report Download summary Download toolkit Beaver County, Pennsylvania is a real-time case study in the local economic impacts of petrochemical development. That’s because the county is home to Shell’s massive, $6 billion ethane cracker, which officially...
by Nick Messenger | May 5, 2023 | Blog Posts, Petrochemicals & Plastics, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
A lot has happened since ORVI originally published our post on the disastrous toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Cleanup efforts are still underway by the railroad operator, Norfolk Southern, but they have raised new questions about the safe transport of...
by Ben Hunkler | Feb 16, 2023 | Blog Posts, Petrochemicals & Plastics
On Friday, February 3, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous petrochemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, sparking what may be one of the worst environmental disasters in US history. Thousands of fish have turned up dead in nearby waterways; a plume...
by Kathy Hipple and Anne Keller | Dec 19, 2022 | Petrochemicals & Plastics, Reports
Download report Download digital toolkit In November 2022, Shell officially began production at its long-anticipated ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, churning out lentil-sized resin pellets, known as nurdles, by the ton. When it reaches full...
by Eric de Place and Julia Stone | Aug 29, 2022 | Blog Posts, Petrochemicals & Plastics
Key Takeaways Appalachian ethane is already fueling a petrochemical buildout in the Gulf Coast and around the world. The region’s production of natural gas liquids, including ethane, is forecasted to grow faster than any other region of the US over the next 30 years....
