Texas Waterkeeper Issues Notice of Intent to Sue for Illegal Water Pollution at Texas Plastics Plant

Texas Waterkeeper Issues Notice of Intent to Sue for Illegal Water Pollution at Texas Plastics Plant

Notice of Intent to Sue Details Clean Water Act Violations at Seadrift, Texas, Facility Including Unpermitted Plastic Nurdle Discharges

Contacts

Dustin Renaud, Earthjustice, [email protected]

Today, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (SABEW), represented by Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), announced its intent to file a federal Clean Water Act enforcement suit against Dow Hydrocarbons, Union Carbide Corporation, and Braskem America ('operators') for the ongoing discharge of microplastics (nurdles) and other unpermitted pollutants into the waterways surrounding their Seadrift, Texas, plastic manufacturing facility.

Nurdles and other microplastics do not dissolve or disappear over time; they remain present in downstream waters, impacting sealife, marine birds, and even potentially human health. The accumulation of this non-biodegradable pollution in the marine environment harms aquatic species and can contaminate fish, oysters, and shrimp with chemicals at levels unhealthy for human consumption.

"Microplastics contaminate communities, wildlife, fisheries, and waterways at every stage of their existence. San Antonio Bay deserves better than unchecked pollution from a repeat offender. Finally, a day of reckoning for the decades of plastic discharges into our bays and waterways," said Diane Wilson, executive director and waterkeeper at San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper.

"Large, unpermitted discharges of 'forever' pollutants into our waterways cannot be allowed for the sake of producing plastic products," said Mary Greene, EIP Director of Enforcement. "These illegal discharges must be stopped and prevented from recurring."

"Our client's members find nurdles and plastic waste floating all over the waterways and coating the shorelines near this plant every time they are in the area. It's time for these companies to follow the law, comply with permit requirements, and clean up their acts," said Lauren Godshall, senior attorney at Earthjustice. "We will hold the companies accountable for their clear violations of the Clean Water Act to protect local communities and local bays and waterways."

The lawsuit will proceed under the Clean Water Act's citizen suit provision, which empowers communities to take legal action when polluters fail to comply with Clean Water Act requirements, including their permits.

Background

The Seadrift facility manufactures polypropylene and polyethylene plastics for wire and cable applications, drip irrigation tubing, food and beverage containers, automotive parts, toys, and diapers; glycols for antifreeze, polyester fabrics and bottles, and oxide derivatives for use in medicines, shampoos, soaps, detergents, window cleaners, brake fluids, and paint. In 2025, the Facility expanded to add a new plant which produces alkoxylates, a chemical class that is used in consumer goods such as cosmetics and laundry detergents. Nurdles are small plastic pellets that are made at the Seadrift Facility and used as the raw material for making plastic goods of all kinds.

For years, local residents and advocates from SABEW have documented persistent nurdle pollution discharging from the Seadrift Facility's outfalls into nearby waterways and canals, which flow into San Antonio Bay. The company's wastewater and stormwater discharge permit prohibits "any discharge of floating solids or visible foam in other than trace amounts," yet plastic pellets, foam, and other pollutants are regularly visible near the facility, often more concentrated after rainfall events.

The operators also are in violation of various other requirements of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, including effluent limits, reporting requirements and operation and maintenance requirements.

The violations identified by SABEW at the Seadrift manufacturing facility will continue to cause harm until the three operators make significant changes to their operations, according to the NOI. The companies have sixty (60) days to respond to the notice, after which a federal lawsuit may be brought to abate the illegal discharges and other violations.

In 2019, SABEW and partners successfully won the largest Clean Water Act citizen suit settlement in U.S. history against Formosa Plastics' Point Comfort facility for similar nurdle pollution, resulting in a landmark $50 million settlement, and an agreement to eliminate the discharge of plastic from the facility (zero discharge), monitoring, enforcement, and cleanup of plastic pollution in Matagorda Bay and Cox Creek.

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