Shell first took out an option to buy the 340-acre property in 2012, and finally purchased it for $13.5 million two years later. It also purchased some surrounding properties for another $13.8 million, and has since spent another 80 million on environmental remediation of the smelter site.
And in addition to the billions it will spend constructing the plant, Shell will also pay Center Township $69 million to move its water intake infrastructure and build a new water treatment plant.
The facility, consisting of two “crackers” a natural gas-fueled power plant, and dock and a waste water treatment plant, will convert ethylene from natural gas production into polyethylene pellets. It will employ more than 6,000 workers during the construction phase and will eventually employ 600 permanent positions.
The governor likes those numbers.
“Since first taking office, I have worked in close collaboration with my Secretary of Community and Economic Development Dennis Davin, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, local officials in Western Pennsylvania, and Royal Dutch Shell to make the proposed plant a reality,” Wolf said in a press statement, adding.
“We have worked to develop strategies for safe and responsible pipeline development that brings resources to markets and facilities and we have prioritized the Shell plant to show the world that Pennsylvania is a leader in energy manufacturing and downstream production.”
In it’s own statement, Shell said construction is slated to being in about 18 months and would bring the facility online early in the next decade.
And in that time, Allegheny County Councilman DeWitt Walton expects great returns.
“This really bodes well for the region, and as a steelworker, as program director for the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, and as a resident, I have to see that everyone has a chance to participate in this opportunity,” he said. “This is a chance to build a quality workforce, with apprentices who will be journeymen by the time the plant is built, and who can replace those skilled baby boomers who are retiring—they’ll be people who look like me and have aspirations like me, and have a chance to succeed. I am really happy about the announcement.”
Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker said he is pleased to hear Shell is finally going ahead with the project, because his city is five minutes away and has 60 acres of shovel-ready land available at the former LTV Steel site for support businesses.
“I’m optimistic because we have to space for the ancillary businesses that will feed the plant, and that will utilize its products in manufacturing,” he said.
Walker said he has spoken with Walton about his worries on diversity commitments and local hiring and training.
“Shell has been reaching out to us and to our county commissioners, but I’m worried about what diversity is going to look like,” he said.
“The good news is they’re coming. The bad news is They’re coming—but are they coming from the Texas panhandle or Aliquippa? We need to make sure there are no impediments to transportation and training. But in any event, we’re ready for the businesses the plant will support. We’re strategically located and we’re ready.”
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
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