On July 31, 2017 a federal Clean Water Act lawsuit was filed by San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper and S. Diane Wilson against Formosa Plastics, Corp. alleging illegal discharges from Formosa’s plant located in Point Comfort, Texas.
On June 27, 2019 the US District Court in Victoria issued a declaratory judgement against Formosa for monetary and injunctive relief after which a settlement was reached that included Formosa’s commitment to undertake engineering changes, future monitoring, mitigation payments for future infractions, and remediation of past discharges. The settlement also provided for the establishment of the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust to be funded by Formosa Plastics, Corp. in the amount of $50 million over a five-year period.
In February 2020, Steven J. Raabe, P.E. was appointed as Trustee of the Trust.
Today, the Trustee announces the official formation and launch of the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust (MBMT). MBMT’s purpose is to undertake the specifically defined environmental restoration and mitigation projects for the benefit of the Matagorda Bay and San Antonio Bay area ecosystems as defined in the December 6, 2019 Consent Decree as follows:
1. To work with the Georgia based nonprofit, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, to form a Matagorda Bay Fishing Cooperative to revitalize the marine ecosystems and promote long-term sustainable fisheries by supporting the fishing community to work together to sustain harvests from the Bay Systems in an environmentally responsible manner.
2. To conduct environmental restoration and to develop and protect Green Lake in Calhoun County. Green Lake is the second largest natural lake in the state of Texas but does not have public access and has not been developed or protected in a way to ensure its natural environment is sustained. This project will restore the lake to its historic condition and develop public access to the park.
3. To work with the Port Lavaca YMCA to fund camps for children and teenagers in their service area. These camps will be focused on education about how to be a good steward of the local ecosystems and will teach outdoor education and provide recreation activities.
4. To conduct erosion control and beach restoration at Magnolia Beach in Calhoun County.
5. To provide support for the University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s “Nurdle Patrol” which documents the discharge of plastics on the Gulf Shore and conducts environmental education and environmental quality assessment.
6. To undertake environmental research regarding the Bay Systems, or the river deltas in Calhoun and Jackson Counties feeding into those systems, to study the ecology, pollution, fisheries or habitat and wildlife restoration of those ecosystems.
7. To research, protect, and restore the ecosystems of the Bay Systems and associated river deltas by providing public education, purchasing land for conservation purposes to reduce pollution, improve public areas, and to conduct environmental advocacy and habitat restoration.
“The MBMT has a unique mission and purpose to support valuable environmental restoration and research for the Matagorda and San Antonio Bay systems,” stated Steven Raabe, the Trustee of the newly formed Trust.
“The Trust looks forward to working with the recipients of this funding to accomplish these important environmental projects,” Raabe further stated.
