Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Monaca, PA -- Tomorrow afternoon, Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the site of a new Shell petrochemical facility in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. What will likely be left out of his remarks is the significant local opposition to the petrochemical hub proposed for the area and the dire health and safety threats it poses to nearby communities.
Currently under construction along the Ohio River, the Shell facility, known as an “ethane cracker,” is one of five proposed petrochemical plants in the Ohio Valley that would use fracked gas to make plastic. Along with a large network of proposed fracked gas pipelines along the Ohio River, the plants would make up the nation’s second largest petrochemical hub. The largest is located in southern Louisiana along the Mississippi River, in an area known as “Cancer Alley” because of the high rates of illness among nearby communities.
Ethane crackers are known to release toxic air pollution, including cancer-causing benzene and other pollutants. Building out petrochemical plants would also drive an increase in fracking for gas to feed the plants, and the increased air and water pollution that comes with it.
The planned petrochemical hub has generated public opposition and legal challenges from communities concerned about toxic air pollution and other threats to the environment and public health from these facilities. Local residents plan to protest outside Trump’s speech tomorrow to raise awareness of these threats and to make it clear that Ohio Valley communities do not want to see their air and clean water polluted by petrochemicals.
For more information about the petrochemical hub proposed for the Ohio Valley or to speak with a local spokesperson, contact Gabby Brown at gabby.brown@sierraclub.org.
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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.