Hold Shell Accountable in Pennsylvania

Update: Only One and the Shell Accountability Coalition made our first petition delivery in Beaver County on June 8th, 2023. Combined with petitions from Friends of the Earth and Earthworks, we delivered more than 60,000 total signatures to the Beaver County Commissioners. Shell just turned on a massive industrial plastics complex in Western Pennsylvania that risks poisoning the local air and water. Add your name to urge Shell to implement basic health and safety measures to protect the surrounding communities from danger.

The decision to turn on the petrochemical facility — which converts fossil fuels into single-use plastic products — comes despite fierce opposition from local Beaver County residents to prevent the plant’s 24 hour pollution cycle from contaminating the Ohio River and surrounding community.

The Shell facility utilizes a similar process to create plastic as the facilities that line the banks of Cancer Alley — a corridor along the Mississippi river so toxic that the risk of cancer for residents is up to 50 times higher than the rest of the country.

In 2022, residents sent Shell a six point to-do list for accountability and transparency, but so far the company has not taken a single meaningful measure to address local concerns and prepare the community in the event of a disaster.

The checkered history of the petrochemical industry also demonstrates that the everyday operations of these facilities are toxic and a significant flare up or pollution event is not a matter of if, but when.

Only One is proud to partner with Eyes on Shell and Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community to call on Shell to implement the following six basic health measures. If they fail to implement these measures, the safety and quality of life of Pennsylvanians will be on the line.

Shell’s To-Do List:

1) Ensure the community is prepared for emergencies

• Share emergency response plans with residents

• Train residents on understanding fenceline monitoring data

• Slow or halt operations during extreme weather events

• Equip municipal-level emergency responders with monitors

2) Immediately notify residents and appropriate others of incidents

• Notify in real time and with detail on type, causes, emissions and cleanup

• Update residents via local news and social media

• Invite BCMAC and Clean Air Council to Shell’s Community Advisory

• Notify appropriate agencies: the NRC, DEP, EPA, local water authorities, ORSANCO, Ohio River Basin Alliance, PA Fish and Boat Commission, etc

3) Use the best available monitoring technology

• Infrared cameras for continuous monitoring

• Advanced VOC monitors and other equipment

• Video cameras on-site and around the plant and publicly accessible 24/7

4) Respect our shared night sky

• Reduce overnight lighting

• Share the Exterior Lighting Study report

• Provide shielding, filtering, and energy-conserving technology per the International Dark Sky Association (IDSA)

5) Address the plastic crisis

• Share the cumulative health, environmental and climate impacts of the life-cycle of the cracker plant’s product

• Publicly reject false solutions such as “advanced recycling”

• Invest in R&D to develop sustainable alternatives to plastics

6) Support climate action

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and purchase offsets for them

• Use renewable energy to power all operations

• Reject false solutions such as blue hydrogen and carbon capture

• Resolve frontline environmental justice concerns about the impact of Shell’s operations

Please add your name to the petition on behalf of the frontline communities facing the worst consequences of the plastics industry, then share the campaign on social media to help build momentum.