EPA chief vows cracker plant will be clean
President Trump to visit Shell facility under construction in Beaver County
President Trump to visit Shell facility under construction in Beaver County
President Trump to visit Shell facility under construction in Beaver County
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says people in Western Pennsylvania should not worry about air pollution from Shell's cracker plant in Beaver County.
See the EPA administrator's comments and the report by Action News Investigates in the video player above.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump will visit the cracker plant in Monaca. Aides said he would tout the 5,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs being created at the site.
Earlier this year, Action News Investigates found the cracker plant will bring thousands of tons of air pollutants to a region that already has some of the nation's dirtiest air.
The plant's permit calls for far higher levels of volatile organic compounds than the Clairton Coke Works, one of the biggest polluters in the region.
The cracker will emit more ammonia -- another toxic chemical -- than the coke works and the Edgar Thomson Works steel plant combined.
Also, the cracker plant will produce 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 488,000 cars.
All that has environmental advocates worried about the health of people living near the plant, as well as downwind as far away as Pittsburgh.
But EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said there is no cause for concern.
"We are closely monitoring both the permit and the emissions and we're looking at the overall emissions environment of Western Pennsylvania. We want to make sure the air quality overall is positive for everyone who lives in Western Pennsylvania," Wheeler said.
Wheeler also addressed concerns that the plastic produced at the cracker plant would worsen the growing issue of plastic pollution.
"These products are being made here instead of China, India or other countries so you save on the carbon footprint of transporting the finished products from halfway around the world. So this is actually a win for the American public and it's producing the products that we use here in our own backyard," Wheeler said.