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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill Harvey
Communications
Phone: (361) 987-7701
You expect more. And Formosa delivers.®
POINT COMFORT, TX (5-31-2016)
COMMUNITY AND INDUSTRY GROUPS REACH AGREEMENT ON
WATER DISCHARGE PERMIT
Formosa Plastics Corporation Texas reached an agreement with San Antonio Bay Waterkeepers, Texas Injured Workers, the Union of Commercial Oystermen of Texas, and their legal counsel, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, regarding a water discharge permit renewal sought by Formosa Plastics. The agreement establishes environmentally sound and reasonably attainable measures to protect Texas’ coastal resources.
“We’ve made progress in protecting the water quality of the bay by working with Formosa Plastics,” Diane Wilson of San Antonio Bay Waterkeepers said. Mauricio Blanco of the Union of Commercial Oystermen added that the agreement “will help protect oystermen and our livelihood.”
A spokesman for Formosa Plastics stated, “the valuable TCEQ (Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality) process for alternative dispute resolution enabled the parties to work together to find common ground to protect Texas’ coastal resources.”
As a result of the agreement, the following changes will be incorporated into the renewed permit:
1. Maintaining copper discharge limit at 1.37 lbs./day of copper, as the current permit allows, instead of increasing it to 1.47 lbs./day.
2. Setting minimum analytical levels (MALs) for Biological Oxygen Demand(BOD), oil and grease, and total residual chlorine. MALs are the lowest concentration ofa substance that can be measured with a defined accuracy and precision level. BOD and oil and grease were lowered from the original proposed MAL of 5 mg/L to the new MAL of 2 mg/L, and the MAL for total residual chlorine was lowered from 0.5 mg/L to 0.2 mg/L. Formosa’s previous discharge permit had no MAL for BOD, oil and grease and total residual chlorine. Formosa requested addition of the MAL for BOD, oil and grease and total residual chlorine in the company’s permit renewal application to ensure reasonable testing criteria are required.
3. Attaining new industry-wide, stricter dioxin and furan discharge levels in six months instead of the TCEQ standard allowance of three years for new dioxin and furan compliance.
4. Increasing the sampling frequency for 1,2-dichloroethane from twice to three times per week at permitted outfalls 101 and 001. Although Formosa has routinely sampled the points over 200 times per year, the 50% increase in weekly samples will provide additional data for trend analysis.
5. Adding a provision to composite sample 12 times in a 24-hour period for the following
constituents: CBOD-5 (five-day carbonaceous biological oxygen demand); total mercury; COD (chemical oxygen demand); total zinc; 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents(tetrachlorodibenzodioxin); BOD-5 (five-day biological oxygen demand); and copper. Although not required in the current permit, Formosa’s practice has been one of sampling for these constituents 12 times per day in a 24-hour period. Formosa agreed to formally adopt its existing sampling protocol into the permit.
Also, during the TCEQ permit process, the decision was made that the frequency of Formosa's bay monitoring as well as the temperature of the discharge would remain the same, which will guard and protect the Bay.For more information, contact Diane Wilson at 361-218-2353 or Bill Harvey at Formosa Plastics, 361-987-7701.
Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A. is a vertically integrated producer of plastic resins and chemicals. Its polyethylene and polypropylene resins are marketed under the Formolene® trade name; its polyvinyl chloride resins are marketed under the Formolon® trade name. The company is headquartered in Livingston, NJ, has over 2400 employees and is certified to the ISO 9001 quality management system and the ISO 14001 environmental management system. See for additional information.
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