US suspends permit for FG’s petchem complex in Louisiana

Janet Miranda

13-Nov-2020

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US Army Corps of Engineers has suspended its permit for FG LA LLC’s petrochemical complex, planned to be built in Louisiana, after it was challenged by environmental groups in a lawsuit.

All work associated with the clearing, grading and excavating will come to a halt.

The Corps said it will work with the FG LA to get the information it needs to re-evaluate the permit, where it will then decide if to reinstate, modify, or revoke the permit, according to court documents.

“FG fully expects the suspension will be lifted, and the permits reinstated, after completion of the re-evaluation,” said Janile Parks, director of community and government relations for FG LA in a statement.

FG LA has done only limited construction on the site and has no plans to perform any work regulated by the Corps until February 2021.

“FG has worked cooperatively with the Corps throughout the permit process and will continue to cooperate with them to provide any additional information they may need from FG,” said Parks.

FG is part of Formosa Plastics Group, which is owned by a conglomerate in Taiwan that also owns Formosa Petrochemical.

The Corps decided to suspend construction for the complex after realising it made a mistake in reviewing alternative sites for the project.

The complex, known as the Sunshine Project, was planned to be built in two phases with an estimated total investment of around $9.4bn.

The first phase would include a 1.2m tonne/year ethane cracker, a 400,000 tonne/year linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit, a 400,000 tonnes/year high density PE (HDPE) unit, an 800,000 tonne/year ethylene glycol (EG) plant, a 600,000 tonne/year propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and a 600,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) plant, according to the ICIS Supply and Demand Database.

The second phase of the project would have included a 1.2m tonnes/year ethane cracker, a 400,000 tonne/year HDPE plant, a 400,000 tonne/year LLDPE plant and an 800,000 tonne/year EG plant.

The Corps decision to reconsider the project was welcomed by the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups suing the Corps over the permit.

The Center of Biological Diversity alleged that the complex will destroy nearby wetlands and pollute the area and accused the Corps of overlooking the environmental harm it could cause to the area, according to court documents.

Other groups suing the Corps include Healthy Gulf, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Rise St James.

The centre and the other groups filed the lawsuit in US District Court, District of Columbia. The case number is 20-cv-00103.

Additional reporting by Al Greenwood

Thumbnail image shows PE pellets.

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