File Photo PTTGC invests in site preparation for a potential ethane cracker plant at Dillies Bottom several years ago. Stakeholders react to the lengthy wait for an announcement.

SHADYSIDE — Local stakeholders weighed in Friday about the lengthy wait for PTT Global Chemical to commit to building an ethane cracker plant in the region.

Reports of less enthusiastic comments by Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted about the likelihood that a petrochemical complex will be built in the Dilles Bottom area came as new light was shed on a 2020 repayment of $20 million by PTTGC to JobsOhio after the company failed to make an investment decision. Many have pinned hopes for the future on such a plant and the promise of prosperity first made in 2015.

Mead Township Trustee Ed Good was unfazed.

“We’re still confident that the project’s going to come to fruition. I think that a number of things these past years … the pandemic, now the situation in Ukraine and what that’s going to do with the petrochemical industry, I think there are a number of balls still up in the air,” he said. “We’re in regular communication with those who represent PTT out of Columbus.”

Good said if the project does not happen the property still has potential, particularly after numerous upgrades.

“We would work closely with Jobs Ohio to try to secure some type of facility with that real estate. It’s prime real estate,” Good said. “There are a number of other alternatives that can take place. … It would be a good spot geographically for some industry to come in. … There’s been a lot of lead-up work as far as upgrades on Route 7.”

He also spoke on the wait.

“I’d rather have no announcement than a negative announcement,” he said. “We know there’s been a tremendous investment by a number of parties. … The $20 million is a big number to us…but that’s a fraction of the investment to date. … I believe that payback was just one of the many agreements that was made.”

For years, local agencies have been making plans on the premise that the cracker plant would be a reality.

“From the beginning we were very optimistic they were going to build a plant. All indications showed they are,” Chief David Lenz of the OR & W Fire District said, noting the hundreds of millions spent on site preparation. “That’s in our response area, so we’ve already made some plans. … It’s going to add a lot of extra to our department.”

Lenz said they had discussed putting an additional station at Dillies Bottom and hiring more personnel, as well as upgrading the ladder trucks. “We’ll be very, very happy if they decide to put that up. … We’re hoping it happens.”

He added that the district would not be adversely affected if the plant falls through. The department is already hiring additional personnel and the station is still planning to add on to its station.

“Our call lines are over 1,000 calls a year without the plant, so if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, but that’s prime real estate down there. I’m sure if they decide not to build that plant that somebody else is going to take that property,” Lenz said. “It’s out of our control what they do down there.”

Shadyside Local School District Superintendent John Haswell said the district has planned major projects with the cracker plant in mind.

“We’re anticipating building a brand-new K-12 school district when that project becomes reality,” he said. “We’ve had an enterprise zone agreement in place since 2020 when originally they had that other partner with them, Daelim (Chemical USA, which withdrew in 2020). … We have been in contact with their leadership. Their leadership told us and continues to tell us that the project is not dead. They are moving forward and we have a whole lot at stake in this project.”

He said if the project does not move forward, the alternative is to go to the voters for the local share. Hasewll said the state share is locked in at 75 percent.

“We have until August until that runs out. After that our state share’s going to go nowhere but down and our local share’s going to go nowhere but up,” he said. Haswell added the new equity rankings in September could reduce the state share to less than 67 percent. “We’re hoping to hear something prior to August. We’ve got a lot on the line. When you’re talking about a $40 million project or more, because construction costs are going on, eight percent is a lot of money.”

The environmentalist organization Concerned Ohio River Residents, which has opposed the cracker plant as well as fracking due to fears of pollution and doubts about the industry’s sustainability and benefit to the area, released a statement:

“The financial experts have been saying for years that this facility wasn’t likely to happen due to market uncertainty, including a changing global attitude on single-use plastic products, such as what this plant would have created if it were built. Now, the proof is pretty much in the pudding. The Lt. Governor of the state even admitted what the experts have been saying. Ohio Valley residents are ready for a sustainable future that benefits everyone, not just a few overseas companies. We will continue to push our elected officials and join us in creating a better future for us all.”

Sean O’Leary, senior researcher at the nonprofit think tank, the Ohio River Valley Institute, also released a statement.

“The news about the cracker makes me sorry for many people in the valley, including many local leaders, who genuinely believed the cracker would be built and that it could be an economic game-changer,” he wrote in an email, adding he and other researchers doubted the viability of a petrochemical boom and urge policy makers to explore economic development separate from gas and petrochemical industries.”

Some Shadyside residents also weighed in.

John Hanson of Shadyside worked as a laborer last year at the cracker plant at Monaca, Pennsylvania. He said he does not believe a Dillies Bottom plant would begin until the Monaca plant was complete. He said he thinks an announcement is likely.

“I think they should announce a general timeframe, whether four months or five months from now,” he said. “It’s going to bring a lot of opportunities for small businesses down here.”

“If it is brought in, people like me that need these kind of jobs, I would be happy and I would be a good worker and I’ve actually been waiting on it to arrive,” Jim Day of Shadyside said. “Which would help everybody in the community that’s actually wanting to work. … If it doesn’t happen, in my opinion it’s just going to get worse. That’s the best thing we have to look forward to. … I’ve been waiting on it, and I’ve heard nothing. … It needs to happen soon, not to get people’s hopes up, but we need to help the community.”