Two nonprofit environmental organizations filed a federal Clean Water Act lawsuit on Tuesday against a Beaver County manufacturer that they said is illegally discharging millions of tiny plastic pellets into the water and riverbanks around Raccoon Creek and the Ohio River.

The lawsuit, filed by PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper, names as defendants BVPV Styrenics LLC and its parent company, Styropek USA Inc.

The manufacturing facility sits at the confluence of Raccoon Creek and the Ohio River in Potter Township. It is immediately downstream from the Shell cracker facility.

According to the complaint, Styropek has owned BVPV since October 2020. Its parent company, the Alpek Group, which operates 35 plants in nine countries, reported $10.5 billion in revenue in 2022.

The complaint, filed as a civil enforcement action, alleges that the company is discharging polystyrene beads through its wastewater and stormwater, damaging the health and quality of the waterways.

BVPV manufactures expandable polystyrene beads, referred to as “nurdles.”

Nurdles are small, rigid spheres up to 2.5 mm in diameter that can be expanded and then used in plastic foam products, like coffee cups, coolers and packing materials.

Each year, the facility produces 123,000 tons of nurdles. According to the lawsuit, nurdles can expand up to 50 times their original size. They are composed of 95% to 98% air and 2% to 5% polystyrene.

Each year, the complaint said, billions or even trillions of nurdles make their way into aquatic environments.

“Even if composed of purportedly non-toxic materials, nurdles act as ‘toxic sponges,’ attracting hydrophobic chemical toxins and transporting them throughout aquatic environments,” the lawsuit said.

The nurdles, it continued, are similar in size, shape and color to fish eggs, and hundreds of fish species are known to ingest such plastics.

The lawsuit asks that the defendants be required to implement measures to remedy or mitigate the Clean Water Act violations and pay a civil penalty.

Under the law, manufacturers must discharge their industrial wastewater and stormwater according to federal limits. According to the lawsuit, the wastewater permits at the facility prohibit the discharge of “floating solids, scum, sheen or substances that result in observed deposits,” or substances in an amount to be sufficient to harm human, animal, plant or aquatic life.

The plaintiffs allege that nurdles are not a permitted discharge.

PennEnvironment, which advocates for clean air and water, and Three Rivers Waterkeeper, which advocates for drinkable and swimmable water in the Pittsburgh region, filed the suit because of concerns that the nurdles are harming fish and aquatic life in Raccoon Creek and the Ohio River.

As part of their work, Three Rivers Waterkeeper patrols and monitors the Ohio River and its tributaries for pollution.

Last year, they joined with Mountain Watershed Association to conduct monthly “nurdle patrols” of the Ohio River. Using a skiff, they collect samples of floating debris from the water’s surface using a 300-micron net.

In September and October 2022, the groups found nurdles in increasing concentrations up Raccoon Creek including on the water’s surface and on shoreline vegetation.

On 10 subsequent monthly patrols, the groups found nurdles in the water on all but one trip.

According to the lawsuit, in September 2022, Three Rivers Waterkeeper filed a report with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reporting their findings.

The organization also sent a letter to Styropek reporting their findings.

On Dec. 1, 2022, the company responded “’[o]ur sampling and testing since September have indicated that our discharges from this outfall remain compliant with our permit.’”

DEP personnel conducted their own surveys in December 2022 and found nurdles in the area of the stormwater discharge area and “throughout the soil” in an excavated area, the lawsuit said.

“Fugitive nurdles were found in other locations throughout the facility, including along the bank of the aeration lagoon and in neighboring cattail vegetation, along the banks of the settling basin, and on paved areas.”

DEP issued a violation notice on Dec. 23, but the lawsuit said there has been no enforcement action since then.

According to the lawsuit, Styropek retained an environmental consultant to conduct a site visit last December, which identified the presence of plastic beads along a portion of Raccoon Creek.

In three quarterly progress reports to DEP since then, the lawsuit said, Styropek has acknowledged “its need to stop unpermitted nurdle discharges from the facility.”

A Styropek spokesperson said the company takes concerns from the community seriously, which is why they initiated a review last year.

“Since then we have invested millions of dollars to improve the Monaca facility and its operations consistent with our commitment to operating at the highest standards of environmental protection and in compliance with our permits,” the company said in a statement.

Since then, the company said, it has continued to partner with the DEP and offered to engage with the plaintiffs.

“Despite the litigation, we will continue on the path of progress we have been on, working collaboratively with our regulators and emphasizing safe operations for our employees and the community,” the statement said.

The lawsuit alleges that neither the federal government nor the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have taken sufficient action for prior violations or to prevent the defendants from future violations.

A spokeswoman from the U.S. attorney’s office said she could not confirm or deny the existence of any investigation. She said she could not comment on the lawsuit.

A message to DEP was not immediately returned.

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