Pennsylvania’s Bad Bet: Why Shell Didn’t Save Appalachia With Plastics

Join ORVI and the Environmental Health Project on Thursday, January 25, at 11 AM ET for the release of our latest report, "Pennsylvania’s Bad Bet: Why Shell Didn’t Save Appalachia With Plastics."

· Click here to view & download the full report.

· Click here to view a recording of the release event on YouTube.

· Click here to view ORVI's presentation slide deck.

The report describes how a pair of faulty economic impact studies misled Pennsylvania policymakers and residents about the economic benefits offered by the Shell Polymers Monaca petrochemicals complex in Beaver County. The studies, funded by Shell and published by Robert Morris University (RMU), were used to justify billions of dollars worth of tax incentives for the Shell project.

“For a variety of reasons, this report finds that the industry-funded RMU studies present residents of the region with an inadequate evaluation of the true economic prospects of Shell’s plant,” explained report co-author Kathy Hipple, a research fellow with the Ohio River Valley Institute. “That these studies were then used to justify billions of dollars of public subsidy already granted to the project by the Pennsylvania General Assembly Legislature over two years earlier raises serious academic and ethical concerns.”

“Pennsylvania’s gamble of billions in taxpayer dollars on the Shell plastics complex is proving to be a bust,” said Alison L. Steele, executive director of the Environmental Health Project. “The dismal economic data aside, the state has never considered the enormous impact the complex is having on public health. Worsening respiratory and cardiac conditions, increased hospitalizations, and higher risks of cancer linked to polluting industrial complexes like this one raise healthcare costs for local families and lower the quality of life for communities on the front lines of the shale gas industry region-wide. We can do better, and we must.”

WHO: Ohio River Valley Institute researchers Anne Keller, Nick Messenger, and Kathy Hipple and Dr. Ned Ketyer, Medical Advisor with the Environmental Health Project.

WHAT: Press conference and webinar on “Pennsylvania’s Bad Bet: Why Shell Didn’t Save Appalachia With Plastics,” a new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute.    

WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 25, 11 AM ET    

WHERE: Zoom - Watch the recording now