(Plastics News) -- Texas environmental officials searched Shintech Inc.'s PVC plant in Freeport, Texas, on Jan. 26 after receiving a complaint that the plant allegedly was emptying unsafe wastewater into the nearby Brazos River.
Officials seized numerous items from the plant during the search, including log books, wastewater reports and personnel files. The plant ranks as North America's largest PVC production facility, with annual capacity of more than 3 billion pounds.
In a Jan. 28 news release, officials with Houston-based Shintech said that the firm ⌠continues to cooperate with authorities in their investigation of certain aspects of our Freeport manufacturing operations.
The search warrant was issued after an investigator with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality met with four individuals ≈ a former employee and three others ⌠closely associated with Shintech ≈ who claimed that plant management had bypassed pH and turbidity meters, allowing untreated wastewater to discharge into a channel that led to the Brazos River.
MRC