Starting the press conference, Diane Wilson, Goldman Environmental Prize 2023 winner and lifelong shrimper, said that Formosa Plastics’ plant in Texas produces more than one trillion nurdles per day, in a process that releases toxins and heavy metals into air and water. Moreover, it has caused extensive groundwater contamination and it is second in the nation for vinyl chloride releases to the air. A US District Court Judge ruled in 2019 that Formosa Plastics had violated the Clean Water Act, and called the company a “serial offender” who failed to report “extensive, historical, and repetitive” releases of plastic pollution. In 2019, Formosa Plastics agreed to “zero-discharge” as part of the settlement, but it has since violated that agreement over 400 times. Wilson called on Formosa Plastics to stop polluting land, air and water, and return to the people a clean and sustainable environment.

Echoing Wilson’s calls, Sharon Lavigne, Goldman Environmental Prize 2021 winner, urged Formosa Plastics Group to stop the construction of the Sunshine Project in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Once completed, the Sunshine Project would occupy 2,500 acres of land, consisting of fourteen facilities, and become the world’s largest production facility for plastics. Moreover, the location where the Sunshine Project is planned is an 18-century slave graveyard, which bears a special meaning to the community. If allowed to be built, it would become yet another disaster for the environment and the climate, and exacerbate the already existing environmental racism. 

Nancy Bui, Vice President of Justice for Formosa Victims, called on FPG directly: “Formosa Plastics, cutting deals with the Vietnamese Communist government  will not make your problems go away. These under the table deals do not excuse you from causing the worst environment disaster in Việtnam. The only way to redeem your ruined reputation is by compensating the victims, restoring the affected coastline  and cessing all activities that pollute the Vietnamese coastline.”

Hsin Hsuan Sun, researcher of the Environmental Rights Foundation said, Formosa Plastics’ pollution in Vietnam didn’t stop at the 2016 marine disaster. In October last year, Formosa Ha Tinh emitted thick yellow smoke, suffocating students in the surrounding area. According to local residents, rainwater collected in basins contains a layer of black soot at the bottom. What impact will these yellow smoke, and other substances discharged into the water and soil have on the locals, the environment, and ecology? For seven years, residents have had no answers. There have never been any credible scientific reports for public scrutiny. But isn’t it the most basic right of a person to know how the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the fish they consume will affect their health? We call on FPG to immediately arrange for a trusted, impartial third party to conduct environmental and human rights impact assessments and make public the results. As part of civil society, conducting impact assessments for all business activities and disclosing the results is the most fundamental obligation of an enterprise. Formosa Plastics, a large conglomerate with ample resources, has no excuse to shirk their responsibility. We also call on the Bureau of Labor Funds, the tenth largest shareholder of Formosa Plastics Corporation, to follow its own social responsibility investment policy, exercise shareholder activism, and actively guide Formosa Plastics to fulfill corporate social responsibility.

Peter Nguyễn Văn Hùn,Director, Vietnamese Migrant and Immigrant Office of the Catholic Church’s Hsinchu Diocese said, Hejing Steel Plant in Vietnam, built by FPG, caused coastal pollution in four Vietnamese provinces – Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Hue -in April 2016. The over-125-mile coastal pollution has destroyed local industries, livelihoods and food sources, killing more than 100 tons of fish and leaving many fishers out of work. It is one of the worst environmental disasters in Asia and in Vietnam. Despite this, FPG did not learn its lesson and continues to pollute other parts of the world, from Point Comfort in Texas, Ha Tinh in Vietnam, Illiopolis in Illinois, to Yunlin County in Taiwan. FPG’s flagrant disregard for the rights, safety and health of the local communities, as well as the environment and public health, demonstrates how corporate profits have taken priority over these crucial issues. FPG’s repeated violations encapsulate the significant risks that the petrochemical and plastics industry poses to health, human rights, local ecosystems and the global climate. We demand that FPG: (i) cease all polluting activities; (ii) Implement strict environmental controls; (iii) give transparent reports; (iv) compensate affected communities; and (v) invest in sustainable alternatives.

Hung-Yi Kuo, Secretary-General of the Environmental Jurists Association and member of the legal team, said that it is only through this large-scale marine pollution incident in Vietnam, that the Taiwanese judiciary’s apathy towards foreign victims, especially those under dictatorship, was brought to light. According to the Code of Civil Procedure, the authenticity of private documents are to be proven by the party who introduces it. To this end, we submitted videos, photographs and even went to Vietnam to sign the power of attorney in person. Yet, the Vietnamese plaintiffs are still required to go through the verification process via Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam. The risk of identity exposure involved and fear of retaliation by the Vietnamese government deter the plaintiffs from completing this process. During this period, many victims were forced to leave Vietnam to work as migrant workers. Plaintiffs or those otherwise involved in the case were monitored and arrested by the Vietnamese government. We call on the government not to turn a blind eye, allowing Taiwanese companies to cause pollution overseas and hide behind a totalitarian regime. The judiciary should establish as soon as possible an effective way for Taiwanese enterprises to be held accountable for the harms caused by their overseas infringement.