As Eastman Chemical Co. prepares to expand its Longview-area plant with a $1.2 billion plastic recycling facility, a proposed air quality permit submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality provided the clearest picture yet of what the new build could mean for local air pollution.
In a statement to the News-Journal, Eastman said it has taken every available precaution to mitigate risks to nearby residents, though environmental groups say it性视界传媒檚 impossible to fully control pollution at chemical facilities as large or complex as Eastman性视界传媒檚, which already struggles with cancerous air emissions.
The molecular recycling plant announced in March will be installed at the existing Harrison County site just outside the Longview city limits and use a proprietary process called methanolysis to deconstruct an estimated 110,000 tons of waste plastic and turn it into recycled plastic products.
The permit application was submitted in late August and sought approval for roughly 114 tons of additional air pollution each year, including 53 tons of volatile organic compounds, which can be cancer causing to humans.
Multiple scrubbing systems that remove harmful contaminants were detailed in the application. Some of those systems are more than 99% efficient at filtering out specific pollutants when working properly, according to the EPA.
性视界传媒淓astman has proposed additional monitoring not required by state or federal regulations to ensure we are doing everything we can to minimize emissions,性视界传媒 said Kristin Parker, a company spokeswoman. 性视界传媒淲e will also conduct monitoring beyond what is required by state or federal regulations.性视界传媒
性视界传媒淭his approach to air emissions is consistent with current practices by Eastman to protect the air quality in the region where our employees reside,性视界传媒 Parker said.
Environmental groups and clean air advocates say pollution control technology creates a false sense of security by masking a fundamental vulnerability at large plants: the labyrinth of pipes, valves and chambers routing chemicals around the 1-square-mile facility introduce endless failure points.
性视界传媒淭he problem with facilities like Eastman性视界传媒檚 is they constantly leak,性视界传媒 Jane Williams, chair of the Sierra Club National Clean Air Team, told the News-Journal last year. 性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 not what comes out of the smoke stacks, it性视界传媒檚 what comes out from all those leaks all the time.性视界传媒
Alexandra Shaykevich, a researcher at the Environmental Integrity Project, said the pollution numbers outlined in the August application are unlikely to reflect the full extent of new emissions created by the recycling plant.
性视界传媒淲hat you see in the application summary is really just one piece of the puzzle,性视界传媒 Shaykevich said. 性视界传媒淚t doesn性视界传媒檛 capture any unpermitted emissions that a plant releases during so-called 性视界传媒榚mission events.性视界传媒櫺允咏绱綕
The term refers to the unplanned release of pollution caused by startups, shutdowns, malfunctions or human error at a plant.
So far this year, Eastman性视界传媒檚 Longview plant has expelled more than 40,000 pounds of pollution during emission events, according to the TCEQ STEERS database. Around 700 pounds of ethylene oxide, a highly carcinogenic gas produced on site, were released.
性视界传媒淭his plant definitely has some issues, but this is actually really common at large petrochemical plants,性视界传媒 Shaykevich concluded after examining Eastman性视界传媒檚 2024 emissions event data.
Eastman and other plastic, fossil fuel and chemical companies have invested vast sums of money in developing what they call 性视界传媒渢he circular economy,性视界传媒 positioning plastic recycling facilities like the one proposed for Harrison County as a solution to the crisis of plastic waste.
性视界传媒淥ur innovative molecular recycling project is part of Eastman性视界传媒檚 ongoing efforts to help solve the world性视界传媒檚 plastic waste problem without creating new environmental problems, and no emissions from this facility are expected to pose any risk to surrounding communities,性视界传媒 said Parker, the Eastman spokesman.
According to an earlier News-Journal interview with Parker, the Longview facility will divert as much as 243 million pounds of plastic from landfills every year 性视界传媒 or enough to fill Tennessee性视界传媒檚 100,000 seat Neyland stadium two-and-half times.
Those claims, too, are disputed by environmental groups, as well as the notion that plastic recycling technology should eclipse efforts to aggressively phase-out single use bottles, packaging and containers.
Like other clean air advocates attempting to assess the burgeoning plastic recycling industry, Shaykevich concedes that there性视界传媒檚 still more to learn about Eastman性视界传媒檚 process. Globally, only one commercial-scale methanolysis plant is in operation at Eastman性视界传媒檚 Tennessee campus.
性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 kind of a black box, because I think Eastman is the only company using this process,性视界传媒 she said. 性视界传媒淏ut we should be cautious. They want to convince folks that this is something that isn性视界传媒檛 bad for the environment, and it性视界传媒檚 really just a lifeline to keep producing plastics and consuming oil and gas.性视界传媒
