Shell’s massive petrochemical plant in Beaver County has yet to spur major economic growth in the region, according to a recent study by nonprofit research group.

“Since 2012, when the project was first announced, the most recent economic data available show Beaver County has lagged both the state and the nation in nearly every measure of economic activity,” the Ohio River Valley Institute found.

Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker plant, formally known as Shell Polymers Monaca, converts natural gas into plastic pellets to be used to make products such as household goods, consumer and food packaging and other items. It is the first major polyethylene manufacturing complex in the Northeastern United States and has a designed output of 1.6 million tons annually, according to Shell.

The 386-acre petrochemical complex in Potter Township took about four years to build, bringing in about 9,500 workers at peak construction. It officially began operations in November and employs about 600 people, according to Shell.

The Ohio River Valley Institute, a progressive think tank established in 2020, said the project hasn’t boosted Beaver County’s gross domestic product.

“Beaver County, like Pennsylvania and the rest of the U.S., struggled economically during the pandemic. According to federal statistics, Beaver County’s GDP dropped sharply, mirroring both state and national trends,” the report said. “Although Beaver County GDP appeared to bounce back in 2021 from 2020 lows, Beaver County experienced an overall decline in GDP between 2012 and 2021 (-5.9%), while Pennsylvania and the U.S. experienced strong and consistent growth in GDP (apart from 2020), adding 9.7% and 20.6% to their economies, respectively.”

The study cites data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing Beaver County lost jobs between 2012 and 2022 (5,436 fewer jobs, a decrease of nearly 10%) while Pennsylvania and the United States added jobs, at a growth rate of 5.1% and 13.9%, respectively.

The petrochemical project “did not shield the county from the economic impact of the pandemic-induced recession. Nor has it buoyed the county in its recovery,” the report said.

The Ohio River Valley Institute, which has received funding from the Heinz Endowments, is a project of the Johnstown-based Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

The ORVI report shows a different picture than a 2021 report by Robert Morris University.

Using economic modeling software, RMU found that during the total construction phase of the project, labor income related to employment of Beaver County residents is estimated to have risen by $513 million.

The RMU study was commissioned by Shell but the company didn’t participate in the research, the university said.

That study found that in Beaver County alone, the complex is expected to produce $260 million to $846 million in annual economic activity – the net value of wages, benefits and related spending — depending on the number of county residents who are employed at the plant. Local wage tax receipts would tally between $550,297 and $902,254 each year, RMU’s study found.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition trade group blasted the ORVI report.

“While ORVI cherry-picks data to fit their predetermined, anti-natural gas bias, the facts are undeniable: natural gas is an economic winner for Pennsylvania, with the thousands of building tradesmen and women who built the Shell Polymers Monaca plant and the hundreds of employees working there today being just one example of the economic benefits shared by all,” Marcellus Shale Coalition President David Callahan said in a statement.

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