The Falcon Pipeline passes through Hancock County, WV

From a Report by Erica Jackson, FracTracker Alliance, March 17, 2021

The Falcon Ethane Pipeline System is at the center of major investigations into possible noncompliance with construction and public safety requirements and failing to report drilling mud spills, according to documents obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) by FracTracker Alliance. These investigations, which are yet to be released, also uncovered instances of alleged data falsification in construction reports and Shell Pipeline Company firing employees in retaliation for speaking up about these issues.

Key Takeaways to Summarize

Shell’s Falcon Pipeline, which is designed to carry ethane to the Shell ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA for plastic production, has been under investigation by federal and state agencies, since 2019. The construction of the pipeline is nearing completion.
Allegations in these investigations include issues with the pipeline’s coating, falsified reports, and retaliation against workers who spoke about issues.

Organizations are calling on public agencies to take action to protect public welfare and the environment along the entire pipeline route through Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

These investigations reveal yet another example of the life-threatening risks brought on by the onslaught of pipeline construction in the Ohio River Valley in the wake in the fracking boom. They also reveal the failure of public agencies to protect us, as documents reveal the federal agency that oversees pipeline safety did not adequately respond to serious accusations brought to its attention by a whistleblower.

These new concerns are coming to light as people across the country are demanding bold action on plastic pollution and the climate crisis through campaigns such as Build Back Fossil Free, Plastic Free President, and Future Beyond Shell. On a local level, residents in the Ohio River Valley continue to shoulder the health burdens of the fracking industry, despite a recent ban on fracking in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, which a growing body of scientific evidence verifies. The Falcon Pipeline, which would transport fracked gas for plastic production, is directly at odds with these demands.

Shell’s attempts to cut corners while constructing this 98-mile pipeline, likely motivated by the increasingly bleak economic prospects of this project, present serious public safety concerns for the thousands of residents along its route in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.

These allegations are serious enough to warrant immediate action. We’re calling on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to thoroughly examine these allegations and suspend construction if not yet completed, or, in the case that construction is complete, operation of the Falcon Pipeline. Furthermore, we call on state environmental regulators to fully investigate construction incidents throughout the entire pipeline route, require Shell Pipeline to complete any necessary remediation, including funding independent drinking water testing, and take enforcement action to hold Shell accountable.

Pipeline workers speak out

According to documents obtained through a public records request, a whistleblower contacted PHMSA in 2019 with serious concerns about the Falcon, including that the pipeline may have been constructed with defective corrosion coating. PHMSA is a federal agency that regulates pipeline operation. The whistleblower also shared environmental threats occurring within the DEP’s jurisdiction, prompting the PA DEP and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office to get involved.

Many of the issues with the Falcon relate to a construction method used to install pipelines beneath sensitive areas like roads and rivers called horizontal directional drilling (HDD). Shell Pipeline contracted Ellingson Trenchless LLC to complete over 20 HDDs along the Falcon, including crossings beneath drinking water sources such as the Ohio River and its tributaries. FracTracker and DeSmog Blog previously reported on major drilling mud spills Shell caused while constructing HDDs and how public agencies have failed to regulate these incidents.

Falcon Pipeline Horizontal Directional Drilling locations and fluid losses

The map in the Report shows the Falcon Pipeline’s HDD crossings and spills of drilling fluid spills that occurred through 3/5/2020. To see the data sources, click on the information icon found in the upper right corner of the map header as well as under the map address bar.

PHMSA performed an incomplete investigation

Correspondence between the PA DEP and PHMSA from February 26, 2020 reveal the gravity of the situation. While PHMSA conducted an inquiry into the whistleblower’s complaints in 2019 and concluded there were no deficiencies, PA DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell wrote that his agency felt it was incomplete and urged PHMSA to conduct a more thorough investigation. Secretary McDonnell noted the PA DEP “has received what appears to be credible information that sections of Shell’s Falcon Pipeline project in western PA, developed for the transportation of ethane liquid, may have been constructed with defective corrosion coating protection,” and that “corroded pipes pose a possible threat of product release, landslide, or even explosions.”

FracTracker submitted a Freedom of Information Act request with PHMSA asking for documents pertaining to this inquiry, and was directed to the agency’s publicly available enforcement action webpage. The page shows that PHMSA opened a case into the Falcon on July 16, 2020, five months after Secretary McDonnell sent the letter.

PHMSA sent Shell Pipeline Company a Notice of Amendment citing several inadequacies with the Falcon’s construction, including:

>> inadequate written standards for visual inspection of pipelines;
>> inadequate written standards that address pipeline location as it pertains to proximity to buildings and private dwellings;
>> compliance with written standards addressing what actions should be taken if coating damage is observed during horizontal directional drill pullback; and
>> inadequate welding procedures

Shell responded with its amended procedures on July 27, 2020, and PHMSA closed the case on August 13, 2020.

Of note, PHMSA states it is basing this Notice on an inspection conducted between April 9th and 11th, 2019, when construction on the Falcon had only recently started. PHMSA has con­firmed its in­ves­ti­ga­tion on the Falcon is on­go­ing, however we question the accuracy of self reported data given to PHMSA inspectors should be questioned

The PA DEP also brought the matter to the attention of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Ohio and West Virginia are also involved

The Falcon pipeline also crosses through Ohio and briefly, West Virginia. While we do not know how these states are involved in these investigations, our past analyses raise concerns about the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s (OEPA) ability to regulate the pipeline’s HDD crossings.

One of the focuses of the Pennsylvania DEP’s investigation is the failure to report drilling fluid spills that occur while constructing a HDD crossing. The PA DEP shut down all HDD operations in November, 2019 and forced Shell to use monitors to calculate spills, as was stated in permit applications.

PHOTO IN REPORT — A horizontal directional drilling (HDD) construction site for the Falcon Pipeline in Southview, Washington County, Pennsylvania. You can see where the drilling mud has returned to the surface in the top left of the photo. Photo by Cyberhawk obtained by FracTracker Alliance through a right-to-know request with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

PHOTO IN ARTICLE— The Falcon Pipeline’s HDD locations are often close to neighborhoods, like the HOU-02 crossing in Southview, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Photo by Cyberhawk obtained by FracTracker Alliance through a right-to-know request with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

To our knowledge, the OEPA did not enforce this procedure, instead relying on workers to manually calculate and report spills. Shell’s failure to accurately self-report raises concerns about the safety of the Falcon’s HDD crossings in Ohio, including the crossing beneath the Ohio River, just upstream of drinking water intakes for Toronto and Steubenville, Ohio.

The Shell ethane cracker is involves dangerous chemical pollution

The Falcon is connected to one of Shell’s most high-profile projects: a $6 billion to $10 billion plastic manufacturing plant, commonly referred to as the Shell ethane cracker, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. These massive projects represent the oil and gas industry’s far-fetched dream of a new age of manufacturing in the region that would revolve around converting fracked gas into plastic, much of which would be exported overseas.

Many in the Ohio River Valley have raised serious concerns over the public health implications of a petrochemical buildout. The United States’ current petrochemical hub is in the Gulf Coast, including a stretch of Louisiana known colloquially as “Cancer Alley” because of the high risk of cancer from industrial pollution.

Construction of the ethane cracker and the Falcon pipeline have forged forward during the COVID-19 pandemic. In another example of the culture of fear at the worksite, several workers expressed concern that speaking publicly about unsafe working conditions that made social distancing impossible would cost them their jobs. Yet the state has allowed work to continue on at the plant, going so far as to grant Shell the approval to continue work without the waiver most businesses had to obtain. As of December 2020, over 274 Shell workers had contracted the coronavirus.

Weak financial outlook for Shell’s investment

While the oil and gas industry had initially planned several ethane crackers for the region, all companies except for Shell have pulled out or put their plans on hold, likely due to the industry’s weak financial outlook.

A June 2020 report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), stated that:

Royal Dutch Shell owes a more complete explanation to shareholders and the people of Pennsylvania of how it is managing risk. Shell remains optimistic regarding the prospects for its Pennsylvania Petrochemical Complex in Beaver County, Penn. The complex, which is expected to open in 2021 or 2022, is part of a larger planned buildout of plastics capacity in the Ohio River Valley and the U.S. IEEFA concludes that the current risk profile indicates the complex will open to market conditions that are more challenging than when the project was planned. The complex is likely to be less profitable than expected and face an extended period of financial distress.

Many of Pennsylvania’s elected officials have gone to great lengths to support this project. The Corbett administration enticed Shell to build this plastic factory in Pennsylvania by offering Shell a tax break for each barrel of fracked gas it buys from companies in the state and converts to plastic (valued at $66 million each year). The state declared the construction site a Keystone Opportunity Zone, giving Shell a 15-year exemption from state and local taxes. In exchange, Shell had to provide at least 2,500 temporary construction jobs and invest $1 billion in the state, giving the company an incredible amount of power to decide where resources are allocated in Pennsylvania.

Would the state have asked Shell for more than 2,500 construction jobs if it knew these jobs could be taken away when workers spoke out against life-threatening conditions? Will the politicians who have hailed oil and gas as the only job creator in the region care when workers are forced to hide their identity when communicating with public agencies?

States fail to adequately regulate the oil and gas industry

The PA DEP appears to have played a key role in calling for this investigation, yet the agency itself was recently at the center of a different investigation led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. The resulting Investigating Grand Jury Report revealed systematic failure by the PA DEP and the state’s Department of Health to regulate the unconventional oil and gas industry. One of the failures was that the Department seldom referred environmental crimes to the Attorney General’s Office, which must occur before the Office has the authority to prosecute.

The Office of Attorney General is involved in this investigation, which the PA DEP is referring to as noncriminal.

The Grand Jury Report also cited concerns about “the revolving door” that shuffled PA DEP employees into higher-paying jobs in the oil and gas industry. The report cited examples of PA DEP employees skirting regulations to perform special favors for companies they wished to be hired by. The watchdog research organization Little Sis listed 47 fracking regulators in Pennsylvania that have moved back and forth between the energy industry, including Shell’s Government Relations Advisor, John Hines.

National attention on pipelines and climate

The Falcon Pipeline sits empty as people across the nation are amping up pressure on President Biden to pursue bold action in pursuit of environmental justice and a just transition to clean energy. Following Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, Indigenous leaders are calling for him to shut down other projects including Enbridge Line 3 and the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Over a hundred groups representing millions of people have signed on to the Build Back Fossil Free campaign, imploring Biden to create new jobs through climate mobilization. Americans are also pushing Biden to be a Plastic Free President and take immediate action to address plastic pollution by suspending and denying permits for new projects like the Shell ethane cracker that convert fracked gas into plastic.

If brought online, the Falcon pipeline and Shell ethane cracker will lock in decades of more fracking, greenhouse gasses, dangerous pollution, and single-use plastic production.

Just as concerning, Shell will need to tighten its parasitic grip on the state’s economic and legislative landscape to keep this plant running. Current economic and political conditions are not favorable for the Shell ethane cracker: financial analysts report that its profits will be significantly less than originally presented. If the plant is brought online, Shell’s lobbyists and public relations firms will be using every tactic to create conditions that support Shell’s bottom line, not the well-being of residents in the Ohio River Valley.

Politicians will be encouraged to pass more preemptive laws to block bans on plastic bags and straws to keep up demand for the ethane cracker’s product. Lobbyists will continue pushing for legislation that imposes harsh fines and felony charges on people who protest oil and gas infrastructure, while oil and gas companies continue to fund police foundations. Shell will ensure that Pennsylvania keeps extracting fossil fuels to feed its ethane cracker.

The Falcon pipeline is at odds with global demands to address plastic and climate crises. As these new documents reveal, it also poses immediate threats to residents along its route. While we’re eager for more information from state and federal agencies to understand the details of this investigation, it’s clear that there is no safe way forward with the Falcon Pipeline.

Royal Dutch Shell has been exerting control over people through the extraction of their natural resources ever since it began drilling for oil in Dutch and British colonies in the 19th Century. What will it take to end its reign?

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See also: Federal, state agencies probing Shell’s Falcon ethane pipeline after whistleblowers’ allegations | Anya Litvak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 17, 2021

PHMSA con­firmed that its in­ves­ti­ga­tion into the proj­ect was on­go­ing. “We looked into the con­cerns raised by the PA-DEP but the re­sults are not yet avail­able,” the agency said.

Even to­day, as the pipe­line is al­ready com­pleted, bur­ied and wait­ing for the Shell petro­chem­i­cal plant to be­come op­er­a­tional some­time in 2022, the PA-DEP’s in­ves­ti­ga­tion of the Fal­con proj­ect con­tin­ues.

Royal Dutch Shell yields to government actions

From an Article by Tom Fontaine, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, March 18, 2020

Shell Chemicals said Wednesday it will temporarily halt its multibillion-dollar project to build an ethane cracker plant in Beaver County because of coronavirus concerns. The company then plans to gradually ramp work back up at the sprawling site where about 8,000 people have been working.

“The decision to pause was not made lightly,” Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals Vice President Hilary Mercer said in a statement. “But we feel strongly the temporary suspension of construction activities is in the best long-term interest of our workforce, nearby townships and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Mercer added.

The decision came hours after Beaver County government leaders called on Shell to suspend work on the project.

“It’s time to shut down. Do what you have to do, but get to that point where we won’t have anyone on that site,” Beaver County Commissioner Dan Camp said at a news conference late Wednesday morning in front of the county courthouse in Beaver.

Camp, who was joined by fellow Commissioners Tony Amadio and Jack Manning and state Reps. Jim Marshall, Rob Matzie and Josh Kail, said his office had received more than 500 calls in recent days from concerned residents and Shell employees and contractors.

Callers reported crowded conditions on buses that take the project’s thousands of workers to and from the work site, limited hand sanitizer and other problems.

“With 8,000 workers, if something happens there, our health care facilities will not be able to undertake what they will have to do,” Camp said, noting that the Heritage Valley Beaver hospital is equipped with only 40 ventilators.

“There’s potential for a very catastrophic outbreak,” Manning added.

The government leaders said they had been in communication with Shell and Gov. Tom Wolf’s office about their concerns. “I believe Shell understands the problem and our concerns. I have confidence they will do the right thing,” Camp said.

The company did not say how long it would suspend work or how long it might take to ramp work back up to full capacity. “As of now, there is no definitive timeline to return to construction activities,” spokesman Curtis Smith said. “It’s too early to know that. For now, our focus is on the 8,000 workers who have dedicated their time and talent to this project.”

The company said it would spend the coming days installing what it called “additional mitigation measures” at the site. Smith said those measures haven’t been finalized, but could include using additional buses to transport workers to and from the site and installing more sanitizing stations and work tents on the site.

No workers at the site have shown symptoms of covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, according to Smith.

Work on the project is expected to be completed sometime in the early 2020s, Smith said. When the plant begins operating, it will process ethane from the Marcellus and Utica shale reservoirs into ethylene and polyethylene, the building blocks of plastic. Officials have said it will employ about 600 full-time workers, and hundreds of others jobs could be created by spinoff companies related to the plastics industry.

“Our goal is to build a positive, decades long legacy in the region,” Mercer said in her statement. “That means earning our right to live and work here every day. It also means caring for people. While (suspending work is) understandably disappointing to many, we believe this decision honors that approach.”

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Shell ‘s construction crew at risk of COVID-19 sickness

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Gov. Tom Wolf is tightening his directives to businesses to shut down, issuing a dire warning and saying Thursday that all “non-life-sustaining” businesses in Pennsylvania must close their physical locations by 8 p.m. to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Enforcement actions against businesses that do not close their physical locations will begin Saturday, March 21st, Wolf said in a statement.

You can also find the list at this link.

Geismar Olefins Plant Explosion & Fire, Louisiana, 2013

From an Article by Terry L. Jones, The Advocate, September 26, 2016

PLAQUEMINE — Four men injured in the 2013 explosion at the Williams Olefins Geismar plant were awarded a total of $13.6 million in damages after an Iberville Parish jury late Monday night ruled the company, several plant officials and its parent company were negligent and knew with substantial certainty that the deadly fire could occur.

The jury rendered its verdict after five hours of deliberation in the three-week trial in the first of several lawsuits related to the incident that killed two people and injured 114 workers.

“For a month they were trying to shift blame onto their shell company (Williams Olefins) and I’m glad the jury saw right through it,” Kurt Arnold, attorney for the plaintiffs, said after Monday night’s verdict.

The jury found that Williams’ Oklahoma-based parent company was 95 percent responsible for the explosion and Williams Olefins was 3 percent to blame. The jury apportioned 1 percent of the blame on plant official Parker Tucker and 1 percent for plant supervisor Larry Bayer, who were also named defendants in the lawsuit. The jury absolved defendant Erick Comeaux, a plant official.

Plaintiff Shawn Thomas will receive the highest payout in damages, awarded $9.4 million for past and future medical bills, lost wages and mental anguish, and pain and suffering. Kris Devall was awarded $3.6 million and Eduardo Elizondo and Michael Dantone were awarded $360,000 and $205,000, respectively.

The company, in a written statement issued after the verdict, says it plans to appeal: “Nothing about the tragic accident at the Williams Olefins facility in Geismar on June 13, 2013 was intentional. We believe there is sufficient Louisiana case law that supports our legal position, and we will appeal the jury verdict rendered in the 18th Judicial District Court.”

In their closing arguments, attorneys for the four men asserted Williams Olefins administrative leaders and plant managers had some idea an explosion could occur, ignoring for seven years warnings that could have prevented the tragedy at the facility, which straddles the Ascension-Iberville line.

“This accident doesn’t happen if the board of directors and CEOs heeded the warnings they were told,” Arnold told the jurors.

But the jury was asked by defense attorneys to view the decisions and actions of the company and its plant officials as a mistake they never intended to happen. “This case is not about responsibility. Williams Olefins already accepted responsibility,” defense attorney Glenn Farnet said. “It was a horrible mistake. Human beings make mistakes. Mistakes are not intent.”

Farnet asserted that in order for the plaintiffs to argue intent Williams’ officials would have had to have known three sequential factors would occur on the day of the explosion. “The scenario that happened that morning had never happened in 13 years because it was an unusual scenario,” he said.

The plaintiffs contended that Williams, key management figures and others had known for years that one of two reboilers used in the refinery process was isolated from pressure relief — which meant there was a risk of over-pressurization and explosion.

Both sides admitted in the court the explosion could have been prevented if car seals, costing less than $5, were tied onto the rebroiler valves. But defense attorneys claimed corporate officials were under the assumption the safety measures had been followed based on what they were told by plant managers.

Much of the debate during the three-week trial centered on the whether Williams’ Oklahoma-based corporate headquarters should bear much of the responsibility for the explosion since its administrative leaders must sign off on many of the day-to-day decisions made at the Geismar facility by the plant managers who work for its limited liability company, Williams Olefins.

“Williams Olefins stood up here and took the blame, but that wasn’t enough,” said Jim Reed, the attorney representing two of the parent companies named in the lawsuit. “Sometimes the truth is very simple. Lawyers complicate things.”

Arnold, the plaintiffs attorney, asserted in court Monday that Williams should bear 90 percent of the responsibility for the plant explosion and Williams Olefins should take 4 percent of the blame. The remaining liability should be apportioned among the remaining defendants, he said.

Arnold asked the jury to award Thomas and Devall $12.1 million each to cover past and future medical bills, lost wages and mental and physical suffering since the explosion.

Arnold asked that Elizondo and Dantone get at least $1.6 million and $835,364, respectively, for past and future medical expenses and lost wages. He left it to the jury to determine what additional money, if any, the two men should receive for past and future mental anguish and pain and suffering.

But Randy Cangelosi, one of several attorneys arguing on behalf of Williams, said some of the plaintiffs exaggerated their injuries while others had pre-existing conditions or weren’t injured severely enough to prevent them from getting high-paying jobs in the future.

“This case is about what’s fair and reasonable. It’s not about punishing any company,” he told the jury.

Cangelosi said Dantone should receive between $65,000 to $80,000 in damages, Elizondo somewhere in the range of $65,000 to $80,000, Thomas between $1.4 million to $1.7 million and Devall’s payout should fall somewhere between $400,000 to $925,000.

Tony Clayton, another attorney for plaintiffs, told the jurors that Williams should not be allowed to injure its employees and then turn around and determine how much money the workers should receive for their injuries.

“Your verdict will be a historical marker of how (these plants) conduct themselves in the future,” Clayton said in his closing arguments. “If they’re man enough to come here and make profits off of us, then they need to be man enough to pay for their substantial mistakes.”

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Accident Description and Safety Investigation:

Accident: Williams Olefins Plant Explosion and Fire
Location: Geismar, LA
Accident Occured: 06/13/2013 | Final Report Released: 10/19/2016
Accident Type: Chemical Manufacturing – Fire and Explosion
Investigation Status: The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) investigation was released at a news conference in Baton Rouge, LA, on 10.19.2016
The fire and explosion occurred on Thursday June 13, 2013, which fatally injured two workers and injured 114 at the William Olefins, Inc., plant located in Geismar, Louisiana.

FINAL REPORT OF C.S.B., CASE NUMBER No. 2013-03-I-LA
https://www.csb.gov/file.aspx?DocumentId=6004

WV-AQB refuses to hear environmental appeal

From an Article by Ken Ward, Jr., Charleston Gazette-Mail, September 18, 2017

Photo: Air Quality Board Chairman Michael Koon (left) and board lawyer Mark Weiler announce the board’s ruling Monday on an appeal of a permit for a US Methanol plant that is under construction in Institute, WV.

Members of a state board on Monday refused to hear a permit appeal from a citizen group that is concerned that potential fires, explosions or other accidents at the US Methanol plant under construction in Institute could pose health and safety risks for area residents.

The West Virginia Air Quality Board granted the Department of Environmental Protection’s motion to dismiss an appeal that the group People Concerned About Chemical Safety filed, agreeing with the DEP that the issues raised were beyond the scope of the state agency’s job. The decision means the board won’t hold a full hearing with testimony about the citizen group concerns.

In arguing against the appeal being dismissed, Bill DePaulo, attorney for the People Concerned organization, urged the board members to make clear what ruling for the DEP’s motion would be saying to the public.

“Win or lose, I’d just like a clear ruling,” DePaulo told board members. “Do it in big, bold letters: ‘We do not consider the human health and safety in issuing this permit.’ ”

US Methanol hopes to start production in mid-2018 at the plant that would convert natural gas to methanol, a common industrial feedstock. The facility, located at the Institute property now operated by Dow Chemical, would use parts from a deconstructed plant in Brazil.

A variety of political leaders, including Gov. Jim Justice and Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper praised the project, which promises 60 permanent jobs, during a groundbreaking ceremony two weeks ago. Construction had already begun, despite the pending challenge to the project’s air pollution permit.

In the permit appeal filed in April, People Concerned argued that the DEP’s Division of Air Quality did not examine the potential consequences for the surrounding community of a spill, leak, fire or explosion at the US Methanol facility.

The citizen group had planned to present an expert to testify to the board about what could happen if one of the facility’s largest tanks — holding up to 1.2 million gallons of methanol — explodes. The expert, James Rogers of West Texas A&M University, said in an affidavit that the risks associated with the facility include “catastrophic explosions” and that “critical safety features” to prevent such incidents were not included in the DEP-approved permit for US Methanol.

The appeal also expressed concern about the potential effects on the health of nearby residents from routine emissions from the facility. It also urged the DEP to collect baseline public health data in the area before allowing US Methanol to begin operations.

DEP attorney Jason Wandling told the board that such issues are beyond the limits of what his agency regulates under the state Air Pollution Control Act. Wandling said the People Concerned group was pushing for a broad reading of the state’s air pollution law, while the DEP focuses on specific statutory duties that spell out specific actions the agency is empowered to take.

Wandling compared what the citizen group was asking the DEP to do to the agency deciding to ban smoking because it is harmful to human health.

“If we tried to incorporate any of the provisions appellants ask for, [US Methanol] would be challenging those requirements, and [the] DEP would almost certainly lose that appeal,” Wandling said.

Dave Yaussy, a lawyer for US Methanol, read a long list of local, state and federal agencies that he said are charged with dealing with the safety of plants like US Methanol.

“There is no need for DAQ to duplicate those efforts,” Yaussy said. “If the board agrees to hear this appeal, it is rewriting the state’s Air Pollution Control Act.”

DePaulo reminded the board that the Institute plant is located adjacent to a historically black university, and that other parts of the property were home for many decades to a huge stockpile of methyl isocyanate, or MIC, the chemical that killed thousands of people in a December 1984 leak at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. And the Institute plant itself, DePaulo reminded the board, has had plenty of serious leaks, fires and explosions over the years.

“It doesn’t take someone who is paranoid or delusional to imagine the circumstances under which this particular facility could cause a very significant threat to health and safety,” DePaulo said.

The board heard about 20 minutes of arguments on the DEP’s motion to dismiss, and then went behind closed doors for more than 45 minutes to deliberate on the motion.

When board members returned to the public session, Chairman Michael Koon said the board was “very sympathetic” to the citizen concerns but that the issues “are not in the purview” of the DEP.

Koon said the board had reached a “consensus,” but that the decision was not unanimous. He did not provide a vote count or specify which board members voted which way. Other board members taking part in the meeting were Grant Bishop, Stanley Mills, Tom Hansen and Jon Hunter.

Global Warming & Climate Change are Primary

Corda Sustainable Plant on Schedule for Completion and Operation in 2017

Croda International Plc, manufacturer of speciality chemical ingredients that enhance everyday consumer and industrial products, today held a ceremonial groundbreaking on a $170 million capital investment through to 2017 that will solve the age-old dilemma for many companies … performance OR sustainability.

The Need to Choose Is Over

Croda is creating the first North American plant that will lead to 100-percent sustainable non-ionic surfactants, active emulsifying agents that help keep oil and water together, which are used in a range of products from face creams to toothpaste to paint to laundry detergent.

Earlier today, Croda International Plc Group Chief Executive, Steve Foots, and President, Personal Care and Actives, Kevin Gallagher, were joined by Delaware Governor Jack Markell and other officials at Croda’s facility in New Castle, Del., for the ceremonial groundbreaking event. The new plant will be located at the company’s Atlas Point facility in New Castle.

“This investment represents a tidal shift, especially for consumer goods manufacturers who are striving for sustainability and performance,” said Foots. “At Croda, sustainability is fundamental to who we are and what we do, and we’re proud to be launching this first-of-its-kind initiative here in North America.”

The expansion of Atlas Point’s operation will enable Croda to produce non-ionic surfactants from bio-ethanol while maintaining performance standards. By using bio-ethanol, Croda will reduce its use of fossil fuels by moving away from traditional petrochemical derived ingredients, taking yet another step to meet the growing needs of its customers for sustainable options that perform as well as non-sustainable options.

“Once again, Croda is leading the way in finding innovative solutions to meet customer expectations, and we are encouraged by their drive for renewable options,” said Foots. Croda officials are working with local leaders on the permitting details for the project and are encouraged by the collaborative process.

While not a consumer brand itself, Croda’s ingredients are found in many popular consumer products, such as personal care products, textiles, detergents and cleaners.

These new sustainable ingredients will be used in countless ways, including lubricants, seat foams and coatings in the automobile industry; air- and floor-care products in the cleaning industry; and drilling fluid in the oil industry; as well as cosmetics and hair care products in the personal care industry.

Track Record of Sustainability

Croda has a longstanding commitment to investing in sustainability and putting innovation into action. Wherever possible, the company uses renewable raw materials and environmentally sensitive processes to help improve the sustainable credentials of end products.

As one of the company’s 54 operations across 34 countries, Atlas Point experiences this commitment first hand time and again. In 2013, Croda invested $2.3 million in solar panels, which generate 5-percent of the site’s electricity. That’s equivalent to the average power consumed by 130 homes per year. In 2012, Croda invested $8 million in a renewable energy project using landfill gas to generate electricity and steam. The results of this project reduced Croda’s annual CO2 emissions by 11,600 tons. These projects combined generate more than 60 percent of the site’s energy.

Earlier in 2012, Atlas Point achieved a 78-percent reduction in landfill waste by increasing the use of solid waste as fuel and increasing recycling opportunities.

Local Benefits

Croda’s Atlas Point facility has been a longstanding, positive corporate citizen and active member of its community. Croda will bring more than 250 construction jobs to Delaware to build this new section of the Atlas Point facility. In addition, Croda will create approximately 30 new, full-time manufacturing positions at the site.

“I applaud Croda’s continued investment in Delaware, both environmentally and economically,” said Delaware Governor Jack Markell. “Croda has made substantial investments in upgrading and enhancing the facility to benefit the local community and the environment, and we’re proud to have such a forward-thinking, positive company in our state.”

Once the permitting process is complete, Croda will build the new plant over the next two years; it is projected to begin operations in 2017. Throughout construction, Atlas Point will continue as one of Croda’s main manufacturing sites for non-ionic surfactants.

“Croda’s plan to develop additional infrastructure in New Castle is welcome news,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper. “Not only will this provide permanent jobs, but it will add to the sustainability initiatives the company has already invested here in Delaware, such as the solar power installation and electricity from landfill gas.”

Development Partners

Croda has partnered with Scientific Design Company Inc., a leading licensor of chemical process technologies worldwide, to design the new plant.

Walbridge Process Engineering and Construction will serve as the project’s construction manager; Walbridge is one of Engineering News-Record’s “Top 50” U.S. construction companies in the country.

Middough Inc., which provides a full-range of engineering, architecture and management services as well as traditional and specialized design, technical and management services worldwide, will complete the detailed engineering and equipment specification.

About Croda

Croda is a specialty chemical manufacturer who, through the imaginative and practical use of science, creates ingredients and technologies that improve people’s lives by enhancing everyday products. They are the name behind the high-performance ingredients in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world, creating products that are relied on by industries and consumers worldwide.

Croda has 3,500+ employees work across 18 manufacturing sites and in offices in over 34 countries. In the wide ranging business sectors that they serve, its focus is on developing and delivering innovative ingredients for; Personal Care; Crop Care; Home Care; Health Care; Geo Technologies; Industrial Chemicals; Polymer Additives; Coatings and Polymers and Lubricants.

See also:  www.FrackCheckWV.net

Cal Dooley, President, American Chemical Council, keynote speaker

The WV Governor’s Energy Summit was held Tuesday, December 6th at the Stonewall Jackson Resort in central West Virginia.  The theme this year was “Energy Powering Economic Development”. The primary topic was the possibility of an ethane cracker chemical plant being located in West Virginia.