US Senator for Pennsylvania Bob Casey has written to a Shell executive to select a Pennsylvania site for the construction of a new chemical plant in the state.
The move follows the Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary's announcement early this year to construct the plant at a site in either Pennsylvania, Ohio or West Virginia, US.
Casey, in his letter to Shell executive Mark Quartermain, said that Pennsylvania had everything required to make it a top choice for Shell's facilities."We have a proven work force, access to water, communities with a long history of working cooperatively with industry, an extensive rail transportation network and appropriate real estate," Casey said. "Pennsylvania also has an exceptional higher education network that will mesh well with Shell's commitment to innovation."
The proposed Shell plant is expected to produce ethylene, which is used to manufacture chemicals, according to the Associated Press.The American Chemistry Council said that the industrial complex is likely to attract many smaller, specialised chemical plants.
The spokeswoman for Pennsylvania's other US senator Pat Toomey said that Toomey has also been in talks with state economic development officials regarding the plant "We stressed the unbelievable workforce in the region, particularly Pittsburgh's great universities that produce world-class engineers and highly skilled workers, the easy access to the inland waterway system in the region, and our strong commitment to the continued development of the shale," she said.
In November 2011, John Kasich, Ohio's governor, reportedly went to Houston to offer a site to oil and gas giant Shell.
