US EPA enables polluting plastics plants by failing to update wastewater limits, report says

Federal regulators have enabled US plastics plants across the country to dump dangerous chemicals into waterways by failing to update wastewater limits for over 30 years, according to a new analysis by a watchdog group.

While the Clean Water Act requires the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review wastewater discharge limits every five years to keep up with advances in water treatment technologies, the agency has not updated its guidelines for the plastics sector since 1993.

“Most folks don’t know that the plastics industry is not required to use modern wastewater treatment controls to limit the amount of pollution they pour into our waterways,” Jen Duggan, the executive director of EIP, said in a press call Thursday. “It’s long past time these plants clean up.”

In its analysis, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) focused on 70 plants that make raw plastics called “nurdles,” tiny pellets later used to make products such as water bottles, food containers and toy

Over 80% of the plants violated pollution limits in their permits at least once between 2021 and 2023, according to the report, yet the EPA only issued financial penalties to 14% of violators, the report found. The Chemours Washington Works plant in West Virginia received 115 violations over this period – more than any other plant studied – but was not issued any penalties by regulators, the EIP analysis found.

Additionally, 40% of the plastics plants are operating on outdated water pollution control permits, the study found.

The EPA said it is reviewing the report and would “respond appropriately.”

The report comes as nations prepare for further negotiations this month in Busan, Korea over a global treaty designed to curb plastic pollution. While the plastics treaty is “incredibly important,” said Duggan, it wouldn’t directly address discharges of harmful pollutants from plastics plants “anytime soon, if at all,” while implementing the existing Clean Water Act would dramatically reduce discharges, she said.

Most of the plants EIP analyzed lacked any limits in their permits for a number of concerning pollutants. None of the plants had limits on total nitrogen and only one had a limit on phosphorus— nutrients that can lead to toxic algae blooms and “dead zones” that damage waterways.

In 2023, the 70 plants released nearly 10 million pounds of nitrogen and almost 2 million pounds of phosphorus into rivers, lakes and streams across the country, according to the analysis.

The report noted that the EPA has not set any federal wastewater limits for 1,4-dioxane, a chemical classified by the EPA as a likely carcinogen that is produced when plants make plastic for water bottles, and dioxins, which the report calls “one of the most toxic chemicals known to science.” While a few plants’ permits included limits on these chemicals that were set by states, most did not.

Eight plastics plants reported releasing over 74,000 pounds of 1,4-dioxane into waterways in 2022 while 10 PVC plants reported releasing 1,374 grams of dioxins and similar compound the same year, according to the report.

“All of this data was provided to us by the industry itself,” James Hiatt, executive director of the nonprofit For a Better Bayou, said at the press conference. “The reality is, the numbers that we have are probably lower than the actuality.”

Petrochemical plants are also potential sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), so-called “forever chemicals” linked to certain cancer, hormone disruption and other health problems that are found in rivers and streams across the US. However, there is little data on PFAS released by these plants due to a lack of EPA limits or monitoring requirements, notes the report.

In April 2023, EIP and other environmental groups filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit against the EPA over the agency’s outdated limits on toxic chemicals in wastewater from plastics plants, as well as oil refineries, fertilizer factories and other industrial facilities.

On December 5, the groups will present their oral arguments for the case, said an attorney for EIP.

Despite the shifting political tide following Donald Trump’s recent presidential win, Duggan said she expects the court will uphold standards set by the Clean Water Act.

“No matter what Trump’s plans are, Trump cannot unilaterally wave away these kinds of mandatory, statutory requirements,” she said. “The Clean Water Act has a very clear mandate that EPA update these water pollution standards to keep pace with technology. Even one of the most conservative courts in the country, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, has ruled to this effect.”

“This is a mandatory obligation imposed by a statute,” Duggan added. “It is a must-do. EPA can’t ignore it no matter who is in the White House.”

(Featured image by Snoopywv via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.)