PennEnvironment, Three Rivers Waterkeeper Settle Plastic Pollution Lawsuit Against Styropek USA

Groundbreaking settlement will reduce plastic pollution, set precedent for other facilities, and provide more than $2M for Ohio River watershed restoration

PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper announced on Thursday the settlement of their lawsuit against BVPV Styrenics LLC and its parent company, Styropek USA, Inc. The suit alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act at Styropek’s plastic manufacturing facility in Monaca, Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The proposed settlement addresses discharges of wastewater and stormwater containing the microplastics -- in this case, tiny plastic pellets called “nurdles” -- manufactured at the plant.

A recording of the news conference announcement can be viewed on our Facebook page..

“There is no doubt that pellets like those discharged by Styropek pose a major threat to public health and the environment,” explained David Masur, PennEnvironment’s executive director. “This landmark victory will protect the headwaters of the Ohio River Basin and the people who rely on it for clean water, including those near Styropek’s Beaver County facility. It will also set the expectation that we should have had all along: Plastic manufacturers should adhere to a standard of zero plastic discharges in their wastewater.”

The proposed settlement, which must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, penalizes Styropek $2.6M for its past violations. Moving forward, the company must completely redesign its stormwater collection and treatment systems to capture all of its pellet waste. Also, Styropek must install cutting-edge monitoring technology at every stormwater outfall to track whether pellets escape the property. The settlement imposes an automatic penalty whenever a single pellet is detected. If Styropek or a successor restarts manufacturing processes at the facility, it will then need to implement a similar control plan for the industrial wastewater it generates.

“Using these advanced technologies, we can assure that there are no illegal discharges of harmful plastic pellets into our waterways without someone being physically present,” says Heather Hulton VanTassel, executive director of Three Rivers Waterkeeper. “Plastic manufacturing facilities lose trillions of nurdles each year -- most of which are impossible to remove from our waterways. The widespread installation of these technologies is the next step to preventing future plastic pollution and protecting our source drinking water.”

The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in December 2023 after monthly “nurdle patrols” conducted by Three Rivers Waterkeeper and Mountain Watershed Association revealed that Styropek routinely discharged plastic pellets through an underwater pipe in Raccoon Creek. In addition to finding pellets on the water’s surface, the groups documented large amounts on bordering vegetation, on creek banks and in river sediment. Subsequent investigations by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Styropek confirmed that stormwater discharged from the aging facility also picks up pellets present on site – and that, if not controlled, discharges of pellets in stormwater will continue even when the facility is idled.

The Styropek facility is located on a sprawling, 400-acre tract of land at the confluence of Raccoon Creek and the Ohio River. The Ohio River starts at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, approximately 25 miles upstream of Styropek. The Ohio River charts a course across a vast section of the Midwest before flowing into the Mississippi River. While the Ohio River forms the border of five states, ultimately it unites 30 million people—five million of whom rely on it for drinking water. In addition to serving as a vital lifeline for humans, our waterways are also home to a variety of animals and plants.

Prior to idling its manufacturing operations in May 2025, the facility produced as much as 123,000 tons of expandable polystyrene (EPS) pellets each year. The pellets are small, rigid spheres 3 millimeters or less in diameter. Once released into the environment, pellets act as “toxic sponges” and can enter the food chain of humans and other animals.

The $2.6M in penalty payments imposed by the settlement will help the facility’s neighbors. Two million dollars will be set aside to remediate pellets in the immediate vicinity of the Styropek facility. $500,000 -- plus any unused remediation money -- will go toward improving the Raccoon Creek and Ohio River watershed. The Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds will manage and disburse these funds. The Pennsylvania Clean Streams Fund will receive the remaining $100,000.

The federal Clean Water Act authorizes private citizens affected by violations of the act to sue violators directly, and to seek civil penalties and court-ordered compliance orders. The settlement follows negotiations between the citizen groups, Styropek, and Pennsylvania DEP. The department intervened in the citizen lawsuit and joined the settlement, which resolves any potential violations of both federal and state law. The non-profit National Environmental Law Center (NELC) represented the plaintiffs in this case.

“This achievement demonstrates both the crucial role that citizen lawsuits play in the enforcement of our core environmental laws, and what is possible when a company decides to focus on solutions rather than dragging things out in court,” said NELC Senior Attorney Matthew Donohue.

About PennEnvironment
PennEnvironment is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization working for clean air, clean water and protecting Pennsylvania’s open spaces. For more information, visit www.pennenvironment.org. PennEnvironment is part of Environment America, a policy and action group with one mission: to protect and restore the natural world.

About Three Rivers Waterkeeper
Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a member organization of the Waterkeeper Alliance, has a mission to improve and protect the water quality of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, which are critical to the health, vitality, and economic prosperity of our region and communities. For more information, visit www.threeriverswaterkeeper.org.

About National Environmental Law Center
The groups are represented by the Boston-based, non-profit National Environmental Law Center, which represents citizen groups across the country in actions to enforce the nation’s environmental laws, and by Pittsburgh attorney Michael Comber of Comber Miller LLC. For more information, visit www.NELC.org.

PennEnvironment, Environment America and the National Environmental Law Center are part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.