PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP, Nonprofits File Consent Decree In Federal Court Requiring Beaver County Plastic Pellet Maker To Pay $2.6 Million In Penalties, Restoration Funds For Repeated Water Pollution Violations

On September 3, the Department of Environmental Protection, together with nonprofits Three Rivers Waterkeeper and PennEnvironment, Inc., filed a proposed consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania with BVPV Styrenics, LLC and Styropek USA, Inc. (collectively, “Styropek”).

The proposed consent decree must also be submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice for a 45-day review period before it can be formally entered by the court.

If approved by the court, the agreement will require Styropek-- an expandable polystyrene (plastic) pellet manufacturing facility in Monaca Borough, Beaver County-- to pay $2.6 million in penalties and remediation costs for repeated pollution violations that discharged plastic pellets into Raccoon Creek and the Ohio River, funding watershed rehabilitation and restoration projects.

[The 70-year-old Styropeck plant closed in January. According to the Pittsburgh Business Times, the company said “The industry has continued to evolve and the economics of the current EPS market, paired with our long term goals and sustainability initiatives, make continued investment increasingly difficult.” Read more here.]

“Pennsylvanians have a right to a clean and safe environment,” said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley. “This consent decree holds Styropek accountable for its violations and requires they act to stop further unlawful discharges while supporting the cleanup of a treasured creek in Beaver County.”

[In September 2022, members of the Three Rivers Waterkeeper group began monitoring the Ohio River in Beaver County and started to find plastic pellets called nurdles. They and other organizations traced the nurdles to the BVPV Styrenics LLC plant. Read more here.]

On October 18, 2022, DEP inspectors observed plastic pellets on the ground at several locations at the Styropek facility.

A follow-up survey along Raccoon Creek and the Ohio River on December 13, 2022, revealed numerous pellets downstream of the facility’s outfalls.

Ten days later, DEP issued Styropek a Notice of Violation (NOV) for the unauthorized discharge of plastic pellets onto land and into Raccoon Creek.

These releases constitute pollution and the unlawful discharge of industrial and solid waste under the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act, and the federal Clean Water Act (CWA).

The pellets entered waterways both through the facility’s wastewater treatment unit and from inadequate containment on-site, which allowed pellets to blow across the property and wash into stormwater outfalls.

While DEP was developing enforcement actions, PennEnvironment, Inc. and Three Rivers Waterkeeper filed a federal complaint against Styropek.

DEP later joined that case.

Under the proposed decree, Styropek must take significant steps to stop future pollution, including installing new turbidity curtains at the facility’s lagoons; upgrading wastewater treatment with cloth media filters and other improvements; and implementing stricter monitoring and stormwater control procedures.

In addition, Styropek will pay $100,000 in civil penalties to DEP’s Clean Water Fund and $2.5 million for environmental restoration projects in the Raccoon Creek and Ohio River watersheds.

$2.5 Million Restoration Funds

Of the $2.5 million restoration funds:

-- $2 million will support the Raccoon Creek Plastic Remediation Fund, which will investigate and clean up polystyrene pellet pollution in the watershed’s sediment, water, and banks. Styropek will be responsible for carrying out remediation under DEP oversight.

-- $500,000, along with any unspent remediation funds, will create the Raccoon Creek Benefit Fund, administered by the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. This fund will support projects that restore, preserve, and protect water quality in the Raccoon Creek watershed and nearby areas of the Ohio River watershed.

Click Here for a copy of the Proposed Consent Decree.

Click Here for DEP’s announcement.

For more information on environmental programs in Pennsylvania, visit DEP’s website. Submit Environmental Complaints; Click Here to sign up for DEP’s newsletter; sign up for DEP’s eNotice; Like DEP on Facebook, Follow DEP on Twitter and visit DEP’s YouTube Channel.