Local activists, FG LA continue to clash over resin plant project

Kaohsiung City, Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group is under fire from activists who claim its subsidiary, FG LA LLC, retaliated in "an attempt to silence" the St. James Parish, La., community's efforts to raise awareness about concerns with a development site in the region.

In December 2019, two environmental activists, Anne Rolfes and Kate McIntosh, left containers of plastic pellets, or nurdles, collected from waterways and a note explaining what was in the containers on the front porches of the homes of plastics industry lobbyists in the state.

"We have delivered this package of nurdles as a reminder — Louisiana does not need anymore pollution, plastics or otherwise," the note said.

The pellets in the containers had previously been collected from Texas Bay areas as evidence in a lawsuit against Livingston, New Jersey-based Formosa Plastics Corp. USA.

Formosa Plastics Corp. USA has "no subsidiary-parent company relationship" and is "a separate company" from Taiwan's FPG, Fred Neske, director of communications for FPC USA, told Plastics News in an email.

In that case, FPC USA agreed to pay $50 million to settle the suit after a judge ruled in the plaintiffs' favor over the pellets allegedly discharged from its facility in Point Comfort, Texas.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it is the largest settlement ever brought by private citizens under the federal Clean Water Act.

As a result of the packages and notes left at lobbyists' homes, Rolfes and McIntosh were charged with terrorizing, a felony in the state, which could carry a sentence of up to 15 years.

The activists turned themselves in to the Baton Rouge Police Department on June 25 following an April 16 warrant for their arrest that was delayed due to COVID-19 concerns. Both activists have been released on separate $5,000 bonds.

"It was obvious that by indicating the contents of the container were hazardous that the individuals were attempting to cause the homeowners to be in fear for their safety to intimidate the homeowner," the warrant affidavit said.

Rolfes, a founder and executive director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a nonprofit environmental justice organization, said the action was an attempt to educate Louisiana lobbyists about the Texas plastic firm's effect on its environment.

"At that very moment, the state of Louisiana was considering issuing an air permit to FPG," Rolfes told Plastics News. "Texas is right next door to Louisiana, and even if it weren't, this ruling and settlement would have been germane to what happens here.

"We thought it imperative to not only bring forth the idea of the settlement and the illegalities that happened in Texas, but also the evidence that was used in the trial," she said.

FG, the FPG subsidiary, is preparing to build a $9.4 billion industrial complex to produce polyethylene, polypropylene and ethylene glycol on a 2,400-acre site in St. James Parish. The project is expected to create about 1,200 jobs in the region, according to its website.

"There's a fierce opposition" to the project in the St. James Parish community, Pam Spees, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who represents McIntosh and Rolfes, told Plastics News.
"They've been trying to raise awareness about the existential threat that a facility that this size and type poses to their community," Spees said. "That is not an overstatement with a facility that massive in an area like that, it really does spell the end of a community that's already been struggling."

During project planning, an archaeologist from FG discovered plantation-era burial remains on the site. Spees said that the archaeologist originally stated the graves belonged people who had been enslaved on plantations, but later recanted that statement.

Rolfes said St. James Parish residents spoke out about the graves on the FG property.

"People know their history through what's been passed down," she said. "The graves carry a special spiritual importance."

In the fall of 2018, the Center for Constitutional Rights, on behalf of Rise St. James, a faith-based environmental justice organization, hired an independent archaeologist to assess previous investigations of gravesites by FG.

"They found that there are possibly as many as five additional cemeteries on the site, and that Formosa's consultants looked in the wrong location each time they investigated for graves on the site of the former Acadia Plantation," according to the Center for Constitutional Right's website.

Janile Parks, director of community and government relations for FG, said the company is committed to the St. James community, "and to preserving its rich history and cultural resources."

In an emailed statement to Plastics News, she added: "It's important to note that the identity and ethnicity of those buried on the property is unknown."

Historic maps of the property indicate it was "used as agricultural fields for decades if not a century," Parks said, and show just two possible burial sites. After investigation, remains were found at just one of the sites. The additional cemeteries referenced by Rise St. James are "simply anomalies" from historic aerial photographs, she said.

Parks said FG has "repeatedly asked opponents of the project to provide any information they had about possible descendants," and were recently notified of a possible descendant "through court pleadings filed."

FG has reached out to the individual "and hopes to remain in close contact as we go through the process of trying to learn more about the identity of the remains."

"FG will continue to work with the appropriate agencies to conduct research on the property to learn more about the identities of the deceased persons and respectfully preserve the remains," Parks said, and "intends to follow the procedure set forth in Louisiana law to learn more and identify direct relations or descendants of the remains."

Rolfes maintains that FG knew graves were on the site and did not immediately tell the planning commission or the parish council while its land use application was pending.

On June 19, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade joined with Rise St. James to arrange a Juneteenth ceremony at the site. FG LA initially denied the request for the visit.

"FG recognized the sincerity of the request and the importance of acknowledging an historical and meaningful day for the African American community," Parks said. "However, FG respectfully declined the site access request primarily due to safety concerns on an active construction site."

Rolfes believes FG "fought tooth and nail" to stop the ceremony "in retaliation for our work to stop plastics from invading our state.

"These arrests are part of a larger pattern of intimidation and harassment of people who are working to stop Formosa and stand up to the petrochemical industry," she said.

The criminal charges of terrorizing for leaving pellets and a note were a "leap in logic," Spees said.

"That charge is completely inapplicable to a situation like that," Spees said. "It's a charge intended to deal with situations where someone is calling in a bomb threat or trying to spread fear in the general public, have buildings evacuated.

"It is harassing to [Rolfes and McIntosh] and it is a burden to have that kind of label placed on them, as well as a charge that carries up to 15 years hanging over their heads," she added.

Parks said FG officials were not responsible for the charges.

"FG was unaware that those actions were going to be taken by the Baton Rouge Police Department and had only heard second hand that deliveries of plastic pellets were made to personal residences in the Baton Rouge area some months ago," Parks said.