A federal judge has dismissed a challenge to a Chinese conglomerate’s plans for a $9.4 billion plastics complex in Louisiana because the Army Corps of Engineers is reconsidering its permit, the Associated Press reports.
Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group plans to build 10 chemical plants and four other major facilities in Welcome, where the Census Bureau estimates that nearly 97% of the 880 residents are Black. The Corps said in November that it will study five possible sites in a predominantly white area that were omitted from earlier analysis because of incorrect predictions that they wouldn’t meet air quality standards.
“This is a big win for opponents of Formosa Plastics. Our lawsuit forced the Corps to suspend and reevaluate its permit decision for this massive super-polluting petrochemical complex,” Julie Teel Simmonds, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, wrote Wednesday.
The Associated Press reports U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss wrote Friday that, “although a close question, the Court agrees with the Corps” and FG LA LLC, the Louisiana member of Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group, that it makes more sense to dismiss the case rather than keep it in court while the Corps reconsiders.
