PITTSBURGH — Proponents of a massive Shell plastics plant in Pennsylvania promised the site would bring economic development to a long-struggling region. The report also found that Beaver County lost population while Pennsylvania maintained residents and the U.S. population grew. “Since the announcement of the Shell petrochemical plant, Beaver County has also actually lost GDP,” Eric de Place, lead author of the report, said during a press briefing. Income levels in Beaver County rose at the same rate as in the rest of the state and the country. When Shell first proposed its Pennsylvania plastics plant, Pennsylvania lawmakers gave the company a $1.7 billion subsidy — the largest subsidy ever offered by the state at the time — to bring the plant to Beaver County.

Source: CNN June 26, 2023 09:36 UTC