Beaver County, Pennsylvania, has lost jobs, businesses and people. But Shell says its complex has created nearly 500 jobs and paid $52 million in taxes, royalties and fees.
A Shell petrochemical plant in western Pennsylvania has failed to deliver many promised economic benefits to the surrounding county since it was announced more than a decade ago, according to an analysis released Friday by the Ohio River Valley Institute, a longtime critic of the project.
Beaver County, northwest of Pittsburgh, has lagged both the state and the nation in measures including growth in gross domestic product, employment and number of businesses since the company unveiled plans to build the massive $14 billion plant in 2012, the report said.
The report said that “by nearly every measure of economic activity, today Beaver County is worse off than it was before the Shell plant was announced in 2012. Today, Beaver County has fewer jobs, fewer businesses, and fewer residents.”
Shell spokeswoman Natalie Gunnell declined to comment on the specifics of the new report but said the plant has helped the local economy.
With you on that. I doubt that the data will do us much good rn, but its still good to see mega-corps getting called out on devwashing (economic development washing, IDK if there’s already a good term.)
The truth is still worth uncovering. We might not be able to do anything about it right now, but that doesn’t mean that will always be the case.
Absolutely