{"id":17739,"date":"2021-01-27T12:45:43","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T20:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/san-antonio-bay-estuarine-waterkeeper-v-formosa-plastics-corp-no-617-cv-0047-s-d-tex-victoria-final-consent-decree-entered-nov-27-2019\/"},"modified":"2023-12-11T11:42:50","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T19:42:50","slug":"us_formosa_consentdecree_27nov2019","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/elaw.org\/es\/resource\/us_formosa_consentdecree_27nov2019","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper contra Formosa Plastics Corp., No. 6:17-cv-0047 (SD Tex. \u2014 Victoria) (Decreto de Consentimiento Final promulgado el 27 de noviembre de 2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper and S. Diane Wilson, Plaintiffs v. Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas, et al., No. 6:17-cv-0047 (S.D. Tex. — Victoria)
\nMemorandum and Order on Liability entered June 27, 2019; Final Consent Decree entered Nov. 27, 2019.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Evidence, Control, Cleanup, Remediation, Mitigation Case<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper et al. v. Formosa Plastics Corp., et al.<\/i>, Waterkeeper sued plastics production factory Formosa for liability and equitable relief under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and Formosa\u2019s CWA Permit. The CWA\u2019s purpose is to \u201crestore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation\u2019s waters.\u201d 33 U.S.C. \u00a7 1251. The CWA and accompanying Permit prohibited the discharge of \u201cfloating solids or visible foam in other than trace amounts\u201d, and required Formosa to report violations from its wastewater pipe and stormwater outfalls. Formosa discharged to waters that are important to commercial fishing, aquatic species such as birds and turtles, and recreation. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After a several day bench trial on the issue of liability, all of Formosa\u2019s arguments and defenses failed,[1]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> and the court resoundingly ruled in the Nonprofit\u2019s favor on Formosa\u2019s liability. Five months later, in November 2019, the court approved a Consent Decree (CD) settling all remaining matters in the case. The settlement included $50 million for funding of environmental projects in the local area, the largest citizen CWA settlement.  As of August 2020, many aspects of the settlement have been implemented, but the parties disputed when future payments must be made if plastics are found outside Formosa\u2019s stormwater outfalls and had not agreed to the appointment of a Monitor.  On August 17, 2020, the court ordered that the \u201cunambiguous terms of the Consent Decree\u201d require that the Monitor \u201csimply documents the presence of Plastics.\u201d  The court held that if Formosa refuted whether plastics found by the Monitor resulted from a new release, the burden was on Formosa to offer such proof.  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The CD focuses on: engineering changes at the Formosa facility; monitoring, reporting and future mitigation payments; remediation; a revised CWA permit; a mitigation trust fund and environmental mitigation projects. The Nonprofit maintains a broad role in all stages of the CD processes, including reviewing agreements, access to records, and site inspections.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n