Shell Ethane Cracker in PA Reports 17.9 Billion Pounds of Emissions Amid Over 40 Violations

Shell Polymers Monaca

The Shell Polymers Monaca Petrochemical Complex is a 386-acre facility owned by Shell USA that is located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The facility utilizes ethane, a by-product of fracked gas, to make ethylene, a building block for plastic. Shell estimates that the facility has a production capacity of 1.6 million tons of polyethylene pellets per year. These pellets are used to create common household goods, single-use consumer and food packaging, and industrial and utility products. The complex was the first ethane cracker to be built outside of the Gulf Coast in 20 years. Its construction took four years and it officially began operation in November 2022. 

The Pennsylvania state government paved the way for the construction of the ethane cracker through the establishment of tax breaks and credits. Governor Ridge established Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZs) in 1998, which waived nearly all business and property taxes for applicable businesses under the assumption that the businesses would revitalize the communities in which they were sited. In 2012, Governor Corbett established Keystone Opportunity Expanded Zones (KOEZ) to expand this tax incentive program, seemingly to incentivize Shell’s selection of a Pennsylvania site, which Shell purchased a month later. The KOEZ process bypassed local resident’s involvement in the approval of the Shell project. Governor Corbett also established the Pennsylvania Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit of $0.05 per gallon for processing natural gas into ethane. This credit has no cap and can be used to offset 20% of a business’s tax liability each year. In 2013, Shell was approved for a KOEZ exempting the company from property taxes for up to 22 years. In 2023, they were approved for a $4,953,971 credit for ethane purchased in 2022. Overall, the tax subsidy that Pennsylvania lawmakers enacted for Shell was the largest in state history, valued at $1.65 billion.

In 2014, Robert Morris University (RMU) School of Business released a private report that predicted that the construction of the facility would generate millions in economic benefits, which RMU updated in 2021 to equate to nearly $3.7 billion annually in statewide economic activity including thousands of new jobs. The economic benefits claimed by the reports have yet to materialize. The Ohio River Valley Institute released a report in February 2025 showing that Beaver County’s GDP, population, employment, and business growth has declined since Shell’s facility was announced in 2012. The presence of the petrochemical plant imposes more costs than benefits, including healthcare and environmental costs due to its pollution and declining home values near the facility.

Shell Polymers Monaca is required to report their monthly air pollution emissions to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP). The emissions expected from the facility includes ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (NOx), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulfur dioxide (SO2), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM) 2.5, hazardous air pollutants (HAP), volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases (CO2e). VOCs and HAPs represent a collection of chemicals including benzene (a known carcinogen) and ozone precursors. Exposure to the types of emissions expected from Shell Polymers Monaca are associated with health issues including respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. 

Emission data is publicly available through a 12-month Rolling Emission Totals report (last updated by Shell on August 13, 2024), which can be found under the Air Quality Plan Approval section of Permitting/Approvals on the DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage. Between January 2020 and July 2024, Shell reported 17.9 billion pounds of air pollutant emissions. Shell reported the highest amount of emissions in September 2022, during the initial startup and introduction of ethane at the facility. The nearly year-long lag in public disclosure of emissions makes it difficult for residents and concerned stakeholders to understand ongoing impacts from the facility and its compliance with air emission limits.

The Clean Air Council and the Environmental Integrity Project announced a lawsuit against Shell in February 2023 for repeated violations of air pollution limits. Within the first few months of operation, the facility had already exceeded their yearly allowance of emissions for chemicals including CO, NOx, VOCs, and HAPs. In May 2023, the PA DEP reached a consent order and agreement with Shell, including a $10 million civil penalty against the Beaver County facility for violating 15 state air quality regulations. In April 2024, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General charged Shell Falcon Pipeline LP (the company that built the pipeline that supplies the Monaca site with its ethane feedstock) with failures to report drilling issues that violated the Clean Streams Law and caused discharge of industrial waste and potential pollution of water.  Shell pled no contest to three out of 13 of the criminal charges and agreed to pay a fine of $300,000 to support environmental restoration efforts.

Following this proven pattern of noncompliance and misconduct, Shell has submitted applications for their PA DEP Plan Approval and their Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Title V Permit. A Plan Approval is a permit administered by the PA DEP that outlines compliance with state and federal air quality regulations for facilities that are sources of air pollution. This permit includes details about the engineering specifications of the facility and the emissions that it is expected to produce, as well as the operator’s plan for compliance with required regulations. A Title V Permit is required by EPA under the Clean Air Act for facilities classified as a major pollution source, and outlines emission limits and control measures, monitoring requirements, and compliance details. Currently, the applications for the permits are available for both permits. A public comment period will open soon after the PA DEP is finished reviewing Shell’s applications when the official permit drafts are released to the public.

Shell Polymers Data Dashboard

The Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC) is a Beaver County based non-profit organization that seeks to inform residents of southwestern Pennsylvania about the health, safety, environmental and economic impacts of fracking infrastructure, including the petrochemical buildout. They are advocacy leaders in Beaver County and support community-driven watchdog initiatives and provide education on the impacts of Shell Polymers Monaca through events and materials. For real time community air monitoring information, see their Eyes on Air webpage. In partnership with BCMAC, we’ve put together a dashboard centralizing information on the operations, malfunction reports, notices of violation, pollution burden, and environmental justice concerns surrounding Shell Polymers Monaca.

View FracTracker’s Shell Polymers Monaca interactive data dashboard on Tableau Public.

For a full description of the data sources and use of the dashboard, please see this document. Please find the data compiled by FracTracker Alliance from the emission reports, malfunction reports, and notices of violations here.

Malfunctions Reports

The operations of the petrochemical complex have been rocky from the start, evident by frequent failure and malfunctioning of equipment that has led to large amounts of hazardous emission releases that have violated state law. The PA DEP requires that Shell submit malfunction reports when something goes wrong at the facility and pollution not allowed under their permit is released. Malfunction Reporting can be found under Compliance/Enforcement on the DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage. A 2023 investigation showed that the PA DEP has struggled to keep up with the sheer frequency of complaints and issues with the plant from the beginning of its operations.

Eighty malfunction reports have been submitted to the DEP to date. We have compiled the data from these reports on the dashboard, where you can find the name of the report (which gives some indication of what went wrong), a link to the report, the date of the malfunction, and the pollutant name and amount that was released into the environment as a result (where applicable). The PA DEP is several months behind in posting malfunction reports to their webpage, and some of the more recent reports are available thanks to BCMAC’s direct correspondence with the PA DEP.

Between January 2022 to November 2024, Shell Polymers Monaca has emitted an estimated 393.5 million pounds of air pollutants as a result of malfunctions, largely composed of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e, approximately 383.3 million pounds).

Figure 1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions (CO2e) from Malfunction Events. According to available malfunction reports, 30 malfunction events released approximately 383.3 million pounds (191,663 tons) of greenhouse gases into the surrounding environment between 2022 and 2024. 

Source:  DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage.

The most frequently emitted pollutant as a result of malfunction events was NOx.

Figure 2. NOx Emissions from Malfunction Events. According to available malfunction reports, NOx is the most frequently emitted pollutant as a result of malfunctions, amounting to approximately 218,300 pounds of emissions during 55 events. 

Source:  DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage.

Emission events of particular concern due to their toxicity are those that emitted benzene, 1,3-butadiene, naphthalene, and styrene.

Figure 3. Benzene Emissions from Malfunction Events. According to available malfunction reports, 15 malfunction events have released approximately 6,926 pounds of benzene into the surrounding environment. 

Source:  DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage.

Figure 4. 1,3 Butadiene Emissions from Malfunction Events. According to available malfunction reports, nine malfunction events have released approximately 7,807 pounds of 1,3 butadiene into the surrounding environment. 

Source:  DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage.

Figure 5. Naphthalene Emissions from Malfunction Events. According to available malfunction reports, eight malfunction events have released approximately 48 pounds of naphthalene into the surrounding environment. 

Source:  DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage.

Figure 6. Styrene Emissions from Malfunction Events. According to available malfunction reports, three malfunction events have released approximately 128 pounds of styrene into the surrounding environment. 

Source:  DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage.

Examples of malfunctions include equipment problems with ethane cracking furnaces, compressors, incinerators, and reactors, long lasting ground flare emissions (one of which resulted in a brush fire), and a sulfuric acid spill. Twenty-seven of the malfunction events occurred between 8pm and 6am, meaning that light pollution from flares or excess lights from alarms are a common occurrence at the facility, which disturbs the surrounding community.

Notices of Violations

The PA DEP sends a Notice of Violation (NOV) to Shell when they violate their permits through malfunctions or other misconduct. NOVs can be found under Compliance/Enforcement on the DEP Shell Petrochemical Complex webpage. 

Forty-three notices of violation have been issued to Shell Polymers Monaca to date since the construction of the complex began in 2017. We have compiled the data from these notices on the dashboard, where you can find information describing the violation, what type of law the event violated, and a link to the notice. Similarly to the malfunction reports, the PA DEP is several months behind in posting notices of violation to their webpage, and some of the more recent reports are available thanks to BCMAC’s direct correspondence with the PA DEP.

Clean air laws have been violated most frequently by Shell, resulting in 35 notices of violation. Examples of clean air violations include 12-month rolling emission excesses for NOx (11 NOVs), CO (2 NOVs), and volatile organic compounds (2 NOVs), NOx emission exceedances from ethane cracking furnaces and combustion turbines (3 NOVs), long lasting visible emissions from ground flares (5 NOVs), and malodors (3 NOVs).

Violations of clean water laws have resulted in seven notices of violation. Examples of clean water violations include discharge of chemicals into the Ohio River exceeding the limits in Shell’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for chemicals including benzene, toluene, di-n-butyl phthalate, and total dissolved and suspended solids. 

Pollution Burden and Environmental Justice

The amount of air pollutants released by Shell Polymers Monaca and the frequency of the facility’s malfunction events and NOVs is concerning. The chemicals introduced to the environment are a dangerous source of toxic exposure for Beaver County residents. The emissions also pose threats to the employees at the facility and exacerbate climate change. Some of the most dangerous chemicals released include benzene, ethylbenzene, 1,3-butadiene, naphthalene, and styrene. These chemicals cause short term effects upon exposure including eye, skin, and respiratory irritation, headaches, dizziness, and nausea. Chronic exposure is associated with more serious conditions including the development of certain cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. Nitrogen oxides (NOx), the most commonly emitted pollutant from Shell Polymers Monaca during malfunction events, can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, as well as shortness of breath, nausea, and fluid buildup in the lungs. 

Additionally, Shell Polymers Monaca is not the only polluting facility in Beaver County. There are also two power plants (a nuclear power plant and a natural gas fired power plant that is associated with the Shell Plant), 6 compressor stations, 4 petrochemical manufacturing facilities, and 165 drilled fracking wells, the Falcon and Revolution Pipelines, and miles of railroads that stretch along the Ohio and Beaver Rivers. All of these sources of emissions together result in a large pollution burden for the people that live nearby.

Figure 7. Pollution Burden in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. 

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, PennDOT, PA DEP Unconventional Well Locations, DEP Air Permit Dashboard.

Environmental Justice (EJ) refers to the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. This concept emerged in response to the disproportionate environmental hazards faced by low-income communities and communities of color, which are often situated near hazardous waste sites, industrial facilities, and polluted areas. The PA DEP publishes a Pennsylvania specific tool to evaluate environmental justice areas called PennEnviroScreen. Pennsylvania EJ areas are defined as block groups at the 80th composite score percentile or higher as calculated by a DEP developed model combining 30 environmental, health, and socioeconomic indicators. Communities in Beaver county including Aliquippa, Ambridge, Baden, Beaver Falls, Bridgewater, Center Township, East Rochester, Industry/Merrill, Leetsdale, Midland, Monaca, New Brighton, Potter Township, Rochester, and Vanport meet the definition of environmental justice communities.

Figure 8. Environmental Justice Areas near Shell Polymers Monaca. 

Source: PennEnviroScreen.

Notably, Shell Polymers Monaca is surrounded by EJ communities, and there are many sensitive community sites located nearby. Within five miles of the petrochemical complex there are 20 schools, 3 colleges and trade schools, 22 child care centers, 5 nursing homes and assisted living facilities, 6 hospitals/medical centers, 27 Fire Stations/EMS locations, and 53 places of worship. 

Figure 9. Community Sites within 5 Miles of Shell Polymers Monaca.

The people living in these communities already face disproportionate environmental burdens, and our state government has a responsibility to ensure that the Shell facility is not exceeding their pollution allotment or allowing excesses of toxic chemicals to reach the people living and working near the facility. Learn more about the pollution burden and environmental justice data for Beaver County on the dashboard.