The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection named 17 steering committee members who will develop a protocol to allocate $5 million of settlement money for Beaver County community projects following air quality violations by Shell Chemical Appalachia.

According to the DEP, the $5 million fund is “one of the largest in Pennsylvania history.”

The Environmental Mitigation Fund steering committee will host a public forum on Thursday, July 13 from 6-9 p.m. in Room 9103 of the Community College of Beaver County’s Learning Resources Center at 1 Campus Drive, Monaca, PA 15061. RiverWise and Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community, whose representatives are part of the committee, will live-stream the meeting on their respective Facebook pages. At the meeting, staff from the DEP’s Office of Environmental Justice will help answer questions about the fund.

“We are committed to working closely with Beaver County residents to ensure that this historic $5 million is an investment in the community,” said DEP Secretary Rich Negrin. “Under Governor Shapiro’s leadership, the Department of Environmental Protection will continue to hold Shell accountable and protect Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and water. Thanks to the Environmental Mitigation Community Fund, the people of Western Pennsylvania will receive $5 million for projects to benefit the environment, health and quality of life in their community — and we will ensure they have a real voice in determining how that funding is spent.”