With Thursday’s announcement that Shell Oil Co. has chosen a Beaver County site for a chemical “cracker” plant, the temptation to slip into hyperbole is hard to resist.

Some area commentators have suggested that in the coming decade, the chemical industry could grow to rival the steel industry during its peak as the driver of the Western Pennsylvania economy. A more tempered evaluation does envision the massive chemical processing plant creating thousands of jobs, tied directly or indirectly to the plant. And given the potential ripple effect of a $2 billion investment in building the facility along the Ohio River, Shell’s announcement is clearly very big news.

After the decision a few years ago by Westinghouse Electric to move its nuclear division headquarters to Cranberry Township from Monroeville, and the developments in the Marcellus Shale gas boom, the Western Pennsylvania region has been riding a wave of positive economic news.

It’s important to note the cautionary words surrounding the ethane cracking plant announcement because Shell must still confirm that the Beaver County site is suitable. It must also secure the ethane supply from Marcellus Shale gas producters in the region. Transportation infrastructure issues need to be addressed, and it could take as long as two years to complete engineering, design and permitting before the first bulldozers start to move dirt for the plant’s construction.

Still, the Shell announcement could well be, as some observers suggest, a real game changer that is a big step toward reindustrialization of Western Pennsylvania with rapid expansion in the chemical and plastic manufacturing businesses. The output of a cracker plant is described as the basic building-block ingredient for plastics and other products.

The selection of the Beaver County site had Pennsylvania besting very competitive offers from Ohio and West Virginia to land the Shell plant. That victory says positive things about the efforts of state and local officials as well as the natural assets offered by the Horsehead Corp. site near Monaca.

Even with the plant located in Monaca, it’s expected that the economic benefits will flow across county and state lines, bringing new businesses and jobs and other economic benefits to northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio.

The American Chemistry Council estimates that the cracker plant could attract up to $16 billion in private investment and lead to the creation of 10,000 permanent jobs related to expansion of the chemical industry in the region.

A spokesman for the AFL-CIO in Pittsburgh said the Shell announcement is “some of the most positive news for the working families of Western Pennsylvania in a generation.” An estimated 10,000 construction jobs are expected to be created while the plant is being built.

With Butler County sharing a border with Beaver County, it’s widely believed that if the plant goes forward, as expected, the benefits will be felt in Butler County, from Cranberry Township and flowing eastward and northward to other communities.

The excitement of last week’s Shell Oil announcement will likely fade as the weeks and months go by with little public evidence of progress. There could be periodic updates, but much of the next phase of the work will be done behind the scenes with Shell and local or regional officials.

But even without the sight of heavy equipment working the Beaver County site, the regional optimism sparked by Shell’s cracker plant announcement will linger — and possibly serve as the foundation for more good economic news for the region.