Post by Logan on Jun 9, 2016 0:26:59 GMT -6
Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County to provide 600 jobs when it opens
Shell Chemical Appalachia’s long-awaited decision on a multibillion-dollar ethane cracker arrived early Tuesday and it’s a go. The company plans to build the petrochemical complex on the site of the former Horsehead zinc smelter in Potter and Center townships, Beaver County.
The site will house the cracker; three units that will convert ethylene into polyethylene pellets; a natural gas-fired power plant; a loading dock; and a wastewater plant. Main construction will start in about 18 months, with commercial production expected to begin early in the next decade, the company said in a statement.
Shell has said constructing the plant would employ 6,000 workers, giving way to 600 permanent operational positions when it opens. Shell had previously put the number of permanent jobs at 400 or 500, but spokesman Ray Fisher said Tuesday that those were just “speculation.”
The company gave credit for the decision, in part, to the tax incentives offered by Pennsylvania — incentives that former Gov. Tom Corbett, who was in office when the courting began, said were justified because of the huge plant’s potential to be a catalyst for a new industry.
Read more: powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2016/06/07/Shell-says-Marcellus-cracker-is-a-go-ethane-beaver-county-pennsylvania-pittsburgh/stories/201606070131
Shell Chemical Appalachia’s long-awaited decision on a multibillion-dollar ethane cracker arrived early Tuesday and it’s a go. The company plans to build the petrochemical complex on the site of the former Horsehead zinc smelter in Potter and Center townships, Beaver County.
The site will house the cracker; three units that will convert ethylene into polyethylene pellets; a natural gas-fired power plant; a loading dock; and a wastewater plant. Main construction will start in about 18 months, with commercial production expected to begin early in the next decade, the company said in a statement.
Shell has said constructing the plant would employ 6,000 workers, giving way to 600 permanent operational positions when it opens. Shell had previously put the number of permanent jobs at 400 or 500, but spokesman Ray Fisher said Tuesday that those were just “speculation.”
The company gave credit for the decision, in part, to the tax incentives offered by Pennsylvania — incentives that former Gov. Tom Corbett, who was in office when the courting began, said were justified because of the huge plant’s potential to be a catalyst for a new industry.
Read more: powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2016/06/07/Shell-says-Marcellus-cracker-is-a-go-ethane-beaver-county-pennsylvania-pittsburgh/stories/201606070131