GROUPS TARGET PLASTICS MAKER
Suit claims Monaca manufacturer is violating the Clean Water act
Local environmental groups PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper filed a federal lawsuit against BVPV Styrenics for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act — a charge the company continues to dispute.
The groups claim that BVPV Styrenics and its parent company Styropek USA are illegally discharging plastic pellets, or nurdles, from its manufacturing facility in Monaca. Nurdles are small spheres up to 3 millimeters in diameter that are used to create plastic products.
“Whether we reach a negotiated settlement or a litigated solution, our goal in this case is the same: to end the illegal discharge of harmful plastic pollution into Raccoon Creek, the Ohio River and our environment,” said David Masur, PennEnvironment’s executive director, in a prepared statement. “Our right as private citizens and citizen groups to directly enforce the federal Clean
Water Act against violators is a critical tool we can use to achieve that goal.”
The Styropek facility is located at the junction of the Ohio River and Raccoon Creek, approximately 20 miles downstream of Pittsburgh. It is one of several facilities owned by Styropek USA nationwide. The company’s website identifies itself as “the largest EPS (expandable polystyrene) producer in the American Continent with the largest distribution network in America.”
The groups’ lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges that any discharge of nurdles violates the Clean Water Act because the company’s wastewater and stormwater discharge permit does not authorize the release of the plastic pellets.
But since the groups announced their intent to sue in October, Styropek USA has disputed all charges.
“To claim that what they saw is actively coming from the site
is kind of a leap,” said Shannon Brushe, a Styropek USA representative, in an interview with the Post-Gazette. “We’re doing everything we need to do to make sure that we’re operating within our permit. But at the same time, we can’t say that every piece of plastic that’s seen is attributed to us and we don’t believe that is the case.”
Pennsylvania DEP inspection reports from December 2022 and January 2023 noted loose nurdles at numerous locations, including on pavement, throughout the soil and in gravel areas near the facility’s wastewater outfalls.
Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a regional environmental and legal advocacy organization, began conducting monthly “nurdle patrols” of the Ohio River in September 2022, said the group’s executive director, Heather Hulton VanTassel.
Mountain Watershed Association and Three Rivers Waterkeeper collected samples that researchers eventually traced to wastewater outfalls at the Styropek facility, leading them to take action, Ms. Hulton VanTassel said.
“We submitted a formal complaint to the Department of Environmental Protection for Clean Water Act violations in 2022,” she said. “But the scope of the nurdle releases that we’ve documented over the past year is alarming and requires immediate attention and action.”
The two organizations have already exchanged emails about the violations alleged in the complaint with representatives of the company and with the Pennsylvania DEP, group officials said.
“The discharge of microplastics into our waters is an immediate and growing problem right here in Western Pennsylvania, posing threats to aquatic life and potentially even to people,” Ms. Hulton VanTassel said. “While we are open to discussing a negotiated resolution of Styropek’s violations, we will not shy from our intent to hold the company fully accountable for its ongoing violations of the Clean Water Act.”