(Story and photo by Beaver County Radio Staff Members)
(Potter Twp., Pa.) The Shell Cracker Plant in Potter Township is nearing completion and they are preparing to start operations at the facility. Shell held a virtual townhall Wednesday night to discuss what Beaver County residents can expect as they prepare for start-up.
The Topics that were covered during the virtual meeting were:
- Flaring, what it means, what to expect,
- Railyard, Moving cars, noise, sirens, etc., Being a good neighbor.
- Shell is transparent and will report anything that happens.
- Environmental perspective
- Hydrogen flares are 98% efficient. Plant is designed to recycle hydrogen.
- Stack testing. Continuous testing for performance will be done on furnace cogeneration smoke stacks. Using U.S. EPA methods and will start after the plant begins operating and happen as needed thereafter.
- Passive air monitoring as Shell monitors for more components in the air here in the United States than anywhere else and Economic Impact.
- Shell has Hired 13 graduates from a company funded program from CCBC. Other candidates from other colleges have been hired as well.
A question and answer session was also held that was hosted by Shell’s Curtis Thomas. some of the questions are below:
How will Shell handle events when they happen? When events happen, Shell will learn from events. Shell wants to be a good member of the community.
How do we have assurance that pellets won’t go in the water? Shell has numerous corporate policies geared toward zero pellet loss. It starts with leadership and engages all workers and contractors. It is in Shell’s best interest to not lose pellets, because it’s the product that they sell.
Why not try and go below the emission limits? We work to minimize emissions and take any action we can to make them as low as possible, regardless of what our permitting requires. Because Shell is the newest plant, its permits are the most stringent of any plant, anywhere.
How often do you have safety drills and what type of drills do you do? They are part of the “operating cadence” Above and beyond what is required by OSHA, Shell requires its plants to do additional testing and safety inspections prior to start up.
What is the effect of living across from the plant and will I encounter health issues? Health and safety of our community and employees is our top concern. Most of the employees spend a majority of their time at the plant, and live nearby, so they are personally invested in making sure things are safe.
What is Shell doing to minimize Hydrocarbon emissions? Shell is partnering with U.S. Steel to come up with methods to minimize hydrocarbon emissions. Shell has also partnered with Beaver County Recycling.
What about the foam in the river? The foam was immediately contained and Shell has done everything to be a responsible operator. Shell did follow up water testing to make sure that the water quality was up to far. They will make sure that events like the foam in the water will never happen again.
When will Shell start up? probably summertime next year, and or when it is completely safe.
What would happen if and when there was an accident with a train on your property? There isn’t much material a whole lot different being transported in rail cars everywhere. CSX is the official rail transporter and is a “class 1” carrier. The primary thing leaving the plant in cars is polyethylene and empty polyethylene cars.
How does the river actually come into play as far as transporting finished materials? Shell customers want their product shipped to them on rail or truck. We do not use the river for that part of the process.
How will the air smell after startup happens? Shell is not allowed by law to have orders leaking out from the plant.
What will the level of noise be like? Shell will comply with local regulations as far as ambient noise. Site noise will remain about the same all the time.
Has Shell already begun to produce plastic commercially? Not yet. Most testing is all that has happened so far.