Shell’s ethane cracker will begin operations this summer. It will turn natural gas from fracking into 1.6 million metric tons of plastic a year. It’s hard to know how many people the cracker will drive away.
The rise of fracking in Appalachia has fed visions of turning the Ohio River Valley into a petrochemical and plastics hub. But overproduction of plastic, opposition to natural gas pipelines, and public concern about rampant plastic waste are upending those plans.
Despite the economic boom, environmentalists and some residents are questioning the health and safety of fracking, which has brought leaks, fires and explosions in Ohio.
