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Governor Cautiously Optimistic About Shell Plant In Monaca

MONACA (KDKA) – Shell Oil is proposing a huge petrochemical plant in Monaca.

Currently it's home to the Horse Head Corporation zinc plant. The zinc plant is about to close and move to North Carolina, eliminating hundreds of jobs for our region.

Governor Tom Corbett is hopeful that oil giant Shell moves to the site.

"We're not done," he said. "We've brought Shell to this point, but the words on paper are not shovels in the ground."

The plan promises 10,000 construction jobs and 10,000 spinoff jobs – all with the help of a nearly $2 billion tax credit from the state.

The governor praised the bi-partisan work of politicians, community leaders and organized labor for offering Shell an attractive incentive to move here.

"We are seeing something happening in Harrisburg that I'd like to see happen in Washington and that is a breakout of bipartisanship."

Even so, Corbett says the deal's not done yet. He can't say why because of confidentiality agreements.

The governor says his hope is that Shell Oil will make a final decision sometime during 2013 and that the work actually begins on this plant in 2014.

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