(File photo of Cracker Plant in Potter Twp. during construction)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Potter Twp., Beaver County, Pa.) Shell Inc. is reporting on their Shell Chemicals Pennsylvania Facebook Page that they are one step closer to starting up the cracker plant in Potter Twp. and there is a lot of activity on site in preparation for startup that you will not see or hear. The company did say however, in the next day or so, you may see additional flaring activity and hear intermittent noise coming from the site as they start up some of the machinery and systems. Shell said in the post that they hope these events will cause you little to no inconvenience. Flares are important environmental controls and safety devices, used in refineries and petrochemical processing plants like the cracker plant and they are utilized as a safe way to burn hydrocarbon gases, as an alternative to releasing the gases directly into the atmosphere. This protects the community and employees from exposure. Shell’s flares are designed to achieve a minimum of 98% combustion efficiency and the combustion products are mainly carbon dioxide and water.
Shell said they will continue to keep everyone updated on activities as they continue to commission the plant on the way to full operation.