Petrochemicals and Plastic

Learn about the social, environmental, and economic impacts of the petrochemical industry through FracTracker articles, maps, and imagery.

What are petrochemicals?

Petrochemicals are chemicals derived from oil and gas. While these synthetic chemicals weren’t widely used until after the 1950’s, their impact today is enormous. They make up toiletries, electronics, building materials, and synthetic fertilizers that grow our food. The most ubiquitous use of petrochemicals, however, is to make plastic.

Petrochemicals are often left out of the global discussion on energy, but they are a rapidly expanding part of the oil and gas industry. Companies are taking advantage of cheap shale gas and investing heavily into petrochemicals, particularly plastics, “the fastest-growing group of bulk materials in the world.”

In other words, the fracking boom is creating a plastic boom.

This boom in the petrochemical industry is coming at a point when there’s an increasing global awareness of the disaster that is plastic pollution. As much as 12.7 million tons of plastic waste goes into the ocean each year. In response to this crisis, hundreds of cities and many countries are instituting policies to reduce plastic consumption.

In the United States, petrochemical facilities are currently concentrated along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana, states that sit above abundant oil and gas resources. Development in this region has come at significant cost to the health of local residents, earning it the nickname “Cancer Alley.”

However, now that fracking has opened up shale gas resources elsewhere, manufacturing is moving north towards the Utica and Marcellus shale regions. The Ohio River Valley is on its way towards becoming a new petrochemical hub.

Appalachia Maps

A map series of the petrochemical buildout in the Ohio River Valley, covering the entire process of fracking for plastic, from oil and gas extraction to plastic bag manufacturing

Imagery

Explore FracTracker’s vast collection of aerial imagery of petrochemical facilities in the US

Feature Series

Explore FracTracker’s Public Environmental Impact Assessment of the Falcon, a Shell-operated ethane pipeline

Story Maps

Journey throughout the Ohio River Valley with FracTracker in this energy landscape story map. Click on the image above.

National Map

FracTracker’s comprehensive national petrochemicals and energy map

Related Articles

Graphic by Sarah Jessie Liez, 2024

Fossil Fashion: How Oil and Gas Fuel the Fashion Industry

/
Fast fashion relies heavily on synthetic materials and nonrenewable energy sources, leaving behind significant environmental footprints and often involving unethical labor practices.

On the Wrong Track: Risks to Residents of the Upper Ohio River Valley From Railroad Incidents

/
Report finds risks to residents of the Upper Ohio River Valley as a result of an average of over four rail incidents per week in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Matt Kelso, FracTracker Alliance, 2023

Digital Atlas: Exploring Nature and Industry in the Raccoon Creek Watershed

Digital atlas of Pennsylvania's Raccoon Creek unveils a comprehensive exploration of the watershed, emphasizing its ecological richness, recreational offerings, and the multifaceted impacts of industrial activities.
Donny Nelson harvesting his field at his farm near Keene, North Dakota. Photo by David Nix 2015

Fertilizer Production in the United States: How Big Ag is Fossil Fueled

/
Producing nitrogen fertilizer for US cropland depends on cheap and unfettered access to natural gas to fuel the industrial chemical manufacturing process for synthesizing ammonia.

Introducing Open-FF: Uncovering Fracking Chemicals

/
Open-FF is an open-source project that transforms the FracFocus data into an easier-to-use resource to help researchers, interested community members and activists find what they need about fracking chemicals.
Photo by David Nix 2015

How Spills, Holes, and Cracks Release Fracking Chemicals Into the Environment

/
FracTracker dives into how toxic fracking chemicals and waste products enter our environment through accidents, spills, and equipment failures, and the impact on Pennsylvania communities.

Urge EPA to Strengthen Standards for Chemical Plants

/
The EPA has proposed updates to several of the rules that regulate chemical manufacturing plants, which could protect the health of communities and workers by creating new air monitoring requirements and controls for roughly 227 sites.

Widespread, Lingering Impacts of Norfolk Southern Warrant an Emergency Response

/
Hundreds of reports from the frontlines prove that the impacts of the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, warrant an emergency response.

Visualizing Pollution: Corpus Christi Data Dashboard

/
The Corpus Christi Data Dashboard is a comprehensive map viewer that visualizes air and water quality data in Corpus Christi, Texas, utilizing FLIR imagery videos, air and water pollution monitor data, and facility locations.
Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2023

Off the Rails: An Exploration of the Train Derailment in East Palestine

FracTracker explores the environmental and community impacts of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023.

Falcon Pipeline Online, Begins Operations Following Violations of Clean Streams Law

/
The Shell ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and Falcon Pipeline begin operations following civil penalties from Pennsylvania regulators for violations of the Clean Streams Law.
Ted Auch_Infrastructure-OilRefinery-ToledoOil-LucasCounty-OH_Lighthawk_Sept2021

A Guide to Petrochemicals, the Fossil Fuel Blindspot

A complete guide to the social, environmental, and economic risks associated with the petrochemical industry in the United States

Ten Things I learned from Taking Break Free From Plastic’s Toxic Tours

FracTracker's Erica Jackson outlines ten things she learned in Break Free From Plastic's virtual Toxic Tours.

Upper Ohio River in Beaver County: Impact of Petrochemical Facility Discharge on the Community and What’s Behind This Long Battle

The petrochemical industry on the Ohio River regularly discharges wastewater into the river, toxic pollution harmful to public and environmental health.

Petrochemical Toxics in the Ohio River Watershed

A look at the petrochemical industry’s footprint in the Ohio River Watershed and how much toxic pollution is discharged into waterways.

Southeastern Texas Petrochemical Industry Needs 318 Billion Gallons of Water, but the US EPA Says Not So Fast

The US EPA is moving to turn off the tap to Texas’ petrochemical operators that are demanding exorbitant water quantities where there are none.

Ongoing Safety Concerns over Shell’s Falcon Pipeline

Ohio River Valley Groups react to a new safety warning issued by federal regulators to Shell regarding the troubled Falcon Pipeline

Updated National Energy and Petrochemical Map

/
We first released this map in February of 2020. In the year since, the world’s energy systems have experienced record changes. Explore the interactive map, updated by FracTracker Alliance in April, 2021.

Shell’s Falcon Pipeline Under Investigation for Serious Public Safety Threats

Shell’s Falcon Pipeline, which is designed to carry ethane to the Shell ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA for plastic production, has been under investigation by federal and state agencies, since 2019.

Mapping intersectionality: Empowering youth addressing plastics

VIEW MAP & DATA Overview A new collaboration between FracTracker…

Channels of Life: The Gulf Coast Buildout in Texas

It’s been a little over a year since I visited the Texas Gulf…

Incinerators: Dinosaurs in the world of energy generation

/
  In this article, we’ll take a look at the current…
Pipeline Map

Mariner East 2 Causes Dozens of Spills Since Lockdown Began, Over 300 in Total

FracTracker Alliance has released a new map of drilling fluid…

FracTracker in the Field: Building a Live Virtual Map

  August 19, 2020 Update: The virtual story map is live! In…
FracTracker Falcon Pipeline spills map

Falcon Pipeline Construction Releases over 250,000 Gallons of Drilling Fluid in Pennsylvania and Ohio

Part of the Falcon Public Environmental Impact Assessment - a…
Petrochemical development in the Houston, Texas areaPhoto by Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, with aerial support by LightHawk

COVID-19 and the oil & gas industry

COVID-19 and the oil and gas industry are at odds. Air pollution…

National Energy and Petrochemical Map

/
This map from FracTracker Alliance is filled with energy and petrochemical data. Explore the map, continue reading to learn more, and see how your state measures up!

Fracking in Pennsylvania: Not Worth It

/
Despite the ever-increasing heaps of violations and drilling…
Freiburg Recycling

The Underlying Politics and Unconventional Well Fundamentals of an Appalachian Storage Hub

FracTracker is closely mapping and following the petrochemical…

Mapping the Petrochemical Build-Out Along the Ohio River

/
New maps show the build-out of oil and gas infrastructure that…

The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet

Plastic has been getting a lot of negative press lately. It’s…
Appalachia storage hub prospects map by FracTracker

Storing Natural Gas Liquids in Appalachia

Last month, the Department of Energy (DOE) submitted a report…
PTTGC’s Ethane Cracker Project - Map by FracTracker Alliance

PTTGC’s Ethane Cracker Project: Risks of Bringing Plastic Manufacturing to Ohio

In 2012, a battle between Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania…
Upper Appalachian Gas Storage Wells

New map available showing Upper Appalachian gas storage wells

FracTracker has received numerous requests to compile a regional…
Falcon Public EIA Project feature image