美国国家公共电台 NPR--A Shell chemical plant stirs economic hope and environmental fears in Western Pa.

A Shell chemical plant stirs economic hope and environmental fears in Western Pa.

Transcript¹

Oil giant Shell will soon open a chemical plant near Pittsburgh that will turn gas from fracking into plastic. The project is creating hundreds of jobs but some residents worry about the air quality

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There are some complicated feelings surrounding a new plant just outside Pittsburgh. Later this summer, oil giant Shell is expected to open a new chemical plant that will turn natural gas into plastic. Over the last decade of development, the plant has brought hope and fear for many in this stretch of the Rust² Belt. The Allegheny Front's Reid Frazier reports.

REID FRAZIER, BYLINE³: At a local restaurant, Skip Homan tells a story familiar to western Pennsylvania.

SKIP HOMAN: Steel in Beaver⁴ County was the major source of employment.

FRAZIER: Homan is a retired⁵ engineer who sits on the board of the Beaver County Partnership⁶ for Community and Economic Growth. He says when steel left in the 1980s, the county's tax base collapsed⁷, as did its population and school enrollments. Then in 2016, Shell picked the county as the site for a multibillion-dollar plant called an ethane cracker⁸.

HOMAN: Before Shell, Beaver County was really not recognized, not known. Now Beaver County is on the map.

FRAZIER: Shell received the largest state subsidy⁹ ever in Pennsylvania, a $1.65 billion tax credit to build the sprawling¹⁰ plant. Here's Hilary Mercer, a company vice¹¹ president, in a video promoting the project on Shell's Facebook page.

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HILARY MERCER: Shell's building a new business here in Pennsylvania. We're building a polyethylene business, which is the building blocks for many of the plastics that we see around us today.

FRAZIER: At its peak, the site was the biggest construction project in North America. Eighty-five hundred workers, many from out of state, crowded hotels, restaurants and rental¹² apartments. When the plant opens, it will have 600 permanent jobs. Not everyone here is happy about this project. Joyce Hanshaw lives across the Ohio River in the town of Vanport. She and husband, Don, a retired steelworker, used to have bonfires in their backyard.

JOYCE HANSHAW: The whole area here is all lit up all the time, so there's no - really, no nighttime here.

FRAZIER: The couple bought their house in 1973. She doesn't want to move, mostly because the house is paid off. Hanshaw is worried about what kind of health problems the plant might cause.

HANSHAW: I'm just wondering, for health reasons - it being plastic and that I already have lung problems as it is - what's it going to be like?

FRAZIER: Shell didn't respond to requests for an interview, but in written statements says it's following all state and federal rules. As part of a settlement with environmental groups, it installed pollution monitors around the plant. But it's still permitted to emit large amounts of smog-forming chemicals, particles and planet-warming carbon dioxide. That got Cheryl Hardy¹³ (ph) worried. Last year, she and her husband picked up and moved 15 miles away rather than live near the plant with their two young children.

CHERYL HARDY: Being, like, in eyesight or across from it in the event of an explosion or, you know, something that would have happened accidentally, and our kids - like, it just scared us.

FRAZIER: Hardy says she knows several other families thinking of doing the same, but Derrick Reynolds isn't among them. He grew up in Beaver County. One of his first jobs was taking apart a closed down steel mill. He worked in construction on the Shell plant and now runs a nearby catering¹⁴ business with his fiancee. For Reynolds, the prospect¹⁵ of pollution from the plant doesn't bother him.

DERRICK REYNOLDS: Before a lot of the jobs went away, the steel mills was booming around here. And you know it was a lot of exhaust and smoke going on. So to me, it's nothing new.

FRAZIER: He says he'll reserve judgment¹⁶ on the plant until he sees how it performs when it opens.

For NPR News, I'm Reid Frazier in Monaca, Pa.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE ALBUM LEAF'S "SHINE")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 cracker   

n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干

参考例句：

• Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
• There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。

9 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

10 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

13 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

14 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

15 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

16 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。