PA Environment Digest Blog: Shell Falcon Pipeline LP Pleads No Contest To Criminal Charges For Violating The State Clean Streams Law In Allegheny, Beaver, Washington Counties; Will Pay $300,000 In Penalties

On November 25 at a Washington County Courthouse hearing, Shell Falcon Pipeline LP pleads no contest to three of 13 criminal charges for violating the state Clean Streams when it constructed a natural gas liquids pipeline in Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties serving the Shell Petrochemical Plant in Beaver County, according to the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community.

Attorney General Michelle Henry brought the charges against the company in April for allegedly failing to notify DEP about multiple issues that the company encountered during some of the horizontal directional drills (HDD) that were utilized to construct some portions of the pipeline. Read more here.

Shell Falcon Pipeline will pay $300,000 in penalties-- a $25,000 fine to the Department and $275,000 to the Independence Conservancy to support environmental restoration efforts.

These penalties are in addition to a $670,000 civil penalty DEP accessed against Shell Falcon Pipeline and its contractor Minnesota Limited LLC for violations of its permit and other laws and regulations that occurred in 2019 and 2020 during pipeline construction. Read more here.

This brings the total criminal and civil penalties against the pipeline to $970,000.

“Shell’s reckless disregard for our community is nothing short of infuriating,” said Hilary Starcher-O’Toole, Executive Director of Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC). “From the devastating environmental damage caused by the Falcon Pipeline to the unrelenting pollution from the Shell Plastics Plant, Beaver County has been treated as a dumping ground for corporate greed. Our families are paying the price—with our health, our water, and our future. This conviction is just the beginning. Shell must be held fully accountable for the irreparable harm they’ve caused, and we will not stop fighting until justice is served for every resident of Beaver County.”

Questions should be directed to: Hilary Flint, Director of Communications and Community Engagement, BCMAC at hilaryfflint@gmail.com.

Visit DEP’s Shale Pipeline Company webpage for more information on the pipeline.

Shell Petrochemical Plant Penalties

In May 2023, the Shell Petrochemical Plant served by the pipeline signed a consent order that included over $17 million in penalties to resolve air pollution violations-- over $12.6 million in penalty payments and $5 million in local community environmental restoration funding. Read more here. Read more here.

On October 2024, the Clean Air Council and the Environment Integrity Project filed a notice of intent to sue the Shell Petrochemical Plant in Beaver County for emitting particulate matter (PM 2.5) and nitrogen oxides in violation of the federal Clean Air Act, the state Air Pollution Control Act and the plant's permit. Read more here.

A similar lawsuit preceded the May 2023 penalty settlement.

This year Pennsylvania taxpayers are giving $65 million in tax subsidies to the Shell Petrochemical Plant as part of the PA Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit incentive program for locating in Beaver County. Read more here.

Visit DEP’s Shell Petrochemical Plant webpage for more information on the facility.

Most Penalized Industry

The shale gas and natural gas pipeline industry has been assessed over $71 million in penalties for environmental violations-- the most of any industry in Pennsylvania. Read more here.

Natural gas pipelines and shale gas companies have also been convicted of multiple criminal charges-- Mariner East & Revolution Pipelines, Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas), CNX Pipeline, Greylock Production, LLC, Southeast Directional Drilling, National Fuel Gas Supply and pipeline subcontractor -- and criminal charges have been brought against XTO Energy, pipeline workers and Equitrans.