Plastic Manufacturer Agrees to $2.6M Settlement with Environmental Groups for Pollution in Ohio River Tributary

Environmental groups and the state Department of Environmental Protection have reached a $2.6 million settlement with a plastic manufacturer for polluting a tributary of the Ohio River.

Three Rivers Waterkeeper and PennEnvironment, along with the DEP, announced a settlement Thursday with Houston-based polystyrene maker Styropek and its facility, BVPV Styrenics LLC, in Beaver County.

In 2022 and 2023, the Waterkeeper group monitored the Ohio River near the newly built Shell cracker plant in Monaca, looking for nurdles, which are tiny plastic pellets. And they found a lot of them.

Read more at WESA