Air and water permits have been issued for a second ethane cracker in the region. This one in eastern Ohio is a little more than an hour's drive from Pittsburgh.
After years of decline, East Liverpool is banking on new economic life from the gas industry. But many are still struggling from pollution that has plagued this town for decades.
Shell’s Falcon Pipeline would run through Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, transporting the ethane necessary to fuel the cracker plant its building in Western, PA. The cracker creates ethylene, which is used in manufacturing plastics.
Ohioans are concerned about the impact that all the new well pads, pipelines, compressor stations and diesel truck traffic are having on the environment and the quality of life in their rural communities. What can they learn from what has happened in southwestern Pennsylvania?
Gas poured from the well head at a rate estimated by the EPA of 100 million cubic feet per day for 20 days before crews were able to plug it it on March 7.
In addition to monitoring the air, regulators have set up floating booms in nearby Captina Creek to protect it from salty brine water that’s also pouring from the well.