POTTER TWP. ― Twenty-one projects to improve Beaver County residents’ quality of life will receive environmental mitigation funding secured last year in a Shell Corp. settlement.
The Environmental Mitigation Community Fund was established last May after Shell signed a consent order and agreement with Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection to resolve months of pollution exceedances at the company’s Potter Township ethane cracker plant.
Mitigation fund started:Shell to pay $10 million for air violations and restart cracker plant production
Shell paid roughly $10 million for repeated air permit violations, including a $4.9 million civil penalty to the DEP and another $5 million to establish a fund for projects that “benefit the environment, health and quality of life” of Beaver Countians.
It’s one of the largest environmental mitigation funds in Pennsylvania's history.
An advisory board of Beaver County stakeholders and advocates Wednesday recommended funding for 21 projects. Selected organizations include nonprofits, school districts and municipalities.
Among the largest single allotments are to the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community for real-time air monitoring, the New Brighton Area School District for a large-scale solar installation to address escalating electricity costs and the Women’s Center of Beaver County for emergency shelter renovations and enhanced accessibility.
As trustees of the fund, The Pittsburgh Foundation Board of Directors will give final approval and disperse the funds in the coming weeks.
Funding board:Community panel to make plan for Shell’s $5 million air quality settlement fund
DEP’s Office of Environmental Justice, at the direction of Gov. Josh Shapiro, convened a 17-member steering committee last year to outline the protocol for funding allocation. Then, a separate nine-member advisory board was put in place to consider proposals and recommend funding.
“Pennsylvanians have a constitutional right to clean air and pure water – that’s why my administration secured this record-breaking agreement with Shell to hold them accountable for violating the laws and regulations that protect our environment,” Shapiro said.
Fernando Treviño, DEP Special Deputy Secretary for the Office of Environmental Justice, said securing the $5 million funding pool – and directly involving community leaders – reflected a shift in the state's environmental justice priorities. The Beaver County mitigation fund initiative served as a pilot for similar approaches statewide.
Moving forward, the DEP will consider this process on a “case-by-case basis,” Treviño said Wednesday, integrating lessons learned throughout the last year and working to reduce bureaucratic delays.
“My ultimate goal was to assign a community-driven process,” he said. “The fact that these local leaders stepped up to volunteer their time and resources to participate in this process is just amazing. It shows the level of commitment they have for the county.”
Treviño said the advisory board received 93 proposals totaling more than $20 million in requested funding.
“It was a really tough process to go through great proposals and identify the best qualifying projects,” he said.
The criteria called for at least one selected project to provide regular independent air quality testing within the petrochemical plant’s vicinity. Only designated 501(c)(3)’s based in Beaver County, or those partnering with a qualifying Beaver County tax-exempt organization on projects based in Beaver County, were eligible.
Treviño said local governments and school districts were included as qualifying organizations following discussions with The Pittsburgh Foundation. He considers the initiative “a great accomplishment for the (Shapiro) administration ... and a great victory for the community.”
“These projects will support and revitalize communities throughout the Beaver Valley and help them continue to thrive,” he said. “In a sense, the real work begins now as organizations receive funding and launch projects and Beaver County residents begin to see positive benefits in their communities.”
The Environmental Mitigation Community Fund advisory board will hold a public meeting to answer questions and close out the process from 6-8 p.m. May 29 at Penn State Beaver’s Student Union Lodge at 100 University Drive in Center Township.
Projects recommended for funding
● Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community: $631,534 to assess air quality in Beaver County on a continual basis, share real-time data with residents, provide mobile air monitoring, inform residents of the presence of real-time air monitors, gather data through surveys and determine if air pollution in the county has measurable public health outcomes.
● The New Brighton Area School District: $578,000 to complete a solar feasibility study and develop a large-scale solar installation to address escalating electricity costs in the district.
● Trails Ministries: $500,000 to safely deconstruct dangerous buildings, salvage as much usable material and capture as much carbon as possible, and create a competent, trained workforce of people re-entering society after incarceration.
● Women’s Center of Beaver County: $500,000 to renovate its emergency shelter and enhance accessibility for domestic violence survivors and women/children experiencing homelessness.
● Crop and Kettle: $295,000 to address food access and equity issues in Beaver County.
● Reforest Our Future: $292,071 to install the Reforest Our Future Native Tree Nursery and Environmental Education Center at Brady’s Run Park with the support of Beaver County commissioners. The facility would produce native trees to be installed throughout the county and serve as a hub for educational programming.
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● Beaver Falls Community Development Corporation in partnership with Geneva College and the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority: $288,010 to install water-quality monitoring stations in Beaver River to continuously assess key water metrics and improve response time to water quality issues by improving BFMA’s access to laboratory testing.
● Independence Conservancy: $277,100 to conduct a two-year study of the overall health of Raccoon Creek and identify potential projects to improve its water quality and biodiversity.
● Borough of Monaca: $276,040 to upgrade the John A. Antoline Community Park.
● B. F. Jones Memorial Library: $184,000 for a full-time social worker to rotate through 10 public library sites on a bi-weekly basis to provide residents with social and mental health support and assist library staff with community outreach.
● Borough of Ambridge: $135,375 to complete a 102-kilowatt solar system on the Ambridge Municipal Complex Building to address escalating electricity costs, a long-term concern for the municipality and a measurable tax burden on the community. Also awarded $43,220 for site visits, feasibility assessments and installation of a publicly accessible, affordable electric vehicle charging at one site.
● Neighborhood North Museum of Play: $145,240 to create two exhibits to support the museum’s sustainable development goals, including a solar array installed on the roof of the News Tribune Building that will power an exhibit within the museum and educate children and families on alternative energy and an exhibit that will open in the museum’s preview space and later expand to demonstrate how shredded plastic bottles can be recycled to create filament for a large-scale 3D printer to cut waste and create 3D-printed art or for use in schools.
● Three Rivers Waterkeeper in partnership with BCMAC: $135,417 to increase waterway monitoring, expand watershed education, conduct monthly on-the-water baseline and location-focused water quality sampling, train community members to identify pollution sources and expand Three Rivers Waterkeeper’s conservation program by establishing an early detection program.
● United Way of Beaver County: $125,000 to support the ALICE Fund, which provides mini-grants to Beaver County charities providing essentials to asset-limited, income-constrained, employed households that earn more than the federal poverty level but less than the basic cost of living.
● Communicycle Beaver County: $105,055 to increase bicycle collection sites in Beaver County from three to 11, complete the buildout of a new, permanent workshop, provide bike locks, work with partners to install bike racks in four communities and purchase three additional scrap metal trailers to accommodate the program’s growth.
● Brighton First: $72,000 to construct a new pavilion at the New Brighton Kids Community Garden for more frequent community engagement and to further the organization’s mission to provide a sustainable and safe healthy garden environment for children.
● The Center in Midland: $68,000 to provide 600 families served by the organization with safe, clean drinking water at The Center in Midland and in their homes and schools.
● Portobello Cultural Life & Arts Center: $50,000 to organize a three-day educational film festival focused on environmental issues and solutions in Beaver Falls. The festival will feature a curated selection of films, discussions, workshops and exhibits aimed at educating and inspiring environmental action.
● The Watersmith Guild in partnership with Outdoor Immersion: $34,290 to provide underserved youth in Beaver County with meaningful outdoor experiences.
● Bags & Blessings: $20,000 for a healthy lifestyle project to educate the community and provide healthy skills to handle physical and mental strains of a cancer diagnosis. Classes will include acupuncture, strengthening your body, healthy healing, balance, nutrition, yoga/healthy minds and church-related counseling.
More information can be found on the DEP's website.
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