Town OKs $6B Shell Plant

Shell has said the plant will create 6,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs once it opens.

MONACA, Pa. (AP) — Supervisors of a western Pennsylvania township have granted a conditional use permit for a $6 billion ethane cracker plant proposed by Shell Chemicals.

A 10-hour hearing last month ended without a decision because the Potter Township supervisors wanted Shell and the Clean Air Council, an environmental group that opposes the plant, to filed legal arguments about the permit.

At Wednesday night's two-hour meeting the supervisors imposed noise limits, and pledged to investigation any complaints of light pollution or traffic disruptions that could occur once construction begins in the next two years.

Shell has said the plant will create 6,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs once the plant opens.

Shell still needs state environmental regulators to modify two pollution permits held by the property's former owner, and get federal permits, before construction begins.

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