Royal Dutch Shell plc has purchased more land for the multi-billion dollar ethane cracker it plans to construct in Western Pennsylvania. The company closed on a 110-acre site in Center Township and a smaller parcel in nearby Potter Township for $5.5 million. The land would be utilized as a “green belt” for the plant, according to the company, and add a buffer near a shopping mall and other roads and buildings. The cracker is planned for a 400-acre site in Beaver County, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh (see Shale Daily, June 7). It would have the capacity to process a little more than 100,000 b/d of ethane. Production of ethylene and polyethylene at the facility is expected to begin sometime in the early 2020s.