CALHOUN COUNTY, Texas – The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing a new draft permit for Formosa Plastics, removing a clause from a 2023 draft requiring “zero discharge.” 

Two environment-advocate groups are contesting this removal, with the leader of one traveling out-of-country to take their concerns directly to Formosa leadership.

Diane Wilson, executive director of the San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper, traveled to Taiwan over the Memorial Day weekend to address plastic pollutant concerns with the shareholder board during a regularly scheduled meeting.

Wilson says her concerns were considered by Formosa’s CEO, receiving a response through a translator that it was a ‘complicated matter’ that was being looked into.

She says the response did not share answers as much as legitimate changes to their pollutant discharge would.

Wilson says there have been hundreds of violations since the 2023 draft permit. She says TCEQ is the entity that receives regular reports on this violation, saying it’s a concern the commission would still choose to remove the ‘zero discharge’ clause in their recent permit proposal.

The SABEW is considering seeking a public meeting and a contested case hearing against TCEQ.

The public meeting would allow residents to hear the commission’s thinking to remove the clause, and the contested case hearing would allow affected parties to bring their evidence to a judge.

25 News Now has reached out to both Formosa Plastics and TCEQ; neither entity has responded at the time of publication.

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