WTRF 7 News Sports Weather - Wheeling SteubenvilleWV Governor Tomblin signs cracker tax bill

WV Governor Tomblin signs cracker tax bill

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill this morning that will give a tax break to ethane cracker plants that locate in West Virginia.

The state Senate unanimously approved the bill Wednesday and sent it to the governor. The House of Delegates had previously passed the bill.

The bill is aimed at attracting an ethane cracker plant to the state, officials have said. It would provide a property tax credit for businesses that spend at least $2 billion to build ethane cracker plants. Instead of taxing the property at 5 percent of it is original value for 10 years, the bill extends the salvage value tax treatment of 5 percent for 25 years.

Ethane is a biproduct of the burgeoning Marcellus shale natural gas drilling industry. Ethane cracker plants convert ethane into ethylene, an organic compound used in the production of plastics and other chemicals.