FILE – The construction on Shell Chemicals’ Beaver County, Pa., ethane cracker plant in Potter Township, Pa., is pictured on May 12, 2020. Shell is putting residents’ health at risk by persistently violating air quality standards at its massive new petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania, an environmental group alleged in a lawsuit Thursday, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

An environmental group says in a new lawsuit that Shell is putting residents’ health at risk by persistently violating air quality standards at its massive new petrochemical refinery in Monaca. A federal lawsuit filed by the Clean Air Council asks a judge to order Shell to bring the plant into compliance, and impose civil penalties of up to $140,000 per day. Opened in November, the plant 25 makes polyethylene, a plastic used in everything from consumer and food packaging to tires. The plant has been shut down for repairs since early April. Shell says it has no comment on the suit.