Original Story: Shell Polymers, API partner with CCBC to enhance process technology education center
Letter To The Editor: Questioning Shell Polymers' CCBC investment
The recent announcement that Shell Polymers and the American Petroleum Institute are deepening their partnership with the Community College of Beaver County is nothing more than corporate propaganda disguised as community investment. These so-called "gifts" are an attempt to steer students into an industry that profits from pollution while ignoring the devastating health and environmental costs it imposes on our communities.
It’s no secret that the Shell Plastics Plant is one of our region’s biggest polluters, spewing harmful emissions into our air and jeopardizing public health. Now, Shell is embedding itself in our education system, using scholarships and job promises to secure its influence while downplaying the true risks of working in petrochemicals.
We all want good jobs for Beaver County residents, but not ones that put their health and safety at risk. The reality is that petrochemical jobs aren’t just dangerous—they’re deadly. Studies have linked petrochemical work to higher rates of cancer and lung disease, and investigative reporting has exposed how workers in oil and gas infrastructure are being exposed to radioactive waste without proper protections. These are not the kinds of opportunities our community needs.
We see through Shell’s playbook. This is not about education—it’s about corporate control. And our community deserves better.
David Pfister is the Western Pennsylvania Organizer for Food & Water Watch. A Chippewa Township native, David has deep roots in Beaver County, where his family still resides.