A massive petrochemical project planned for the Texas Gulf Coast has suddenly been put on pause.
Last week, Dallas-based Energy Transfer withdrew an air application permit for a proposed $1.8-billion petrochemical complex in Jefferson County, according to Public Health Watch. A Public Health Watch analysis found that the odds of approval were in Energy Transfer’s favor.
“On behalf of Energy Transfer Petrochemical Holdings LLC, please withdraw the subject air permit application from consideration,” a May 6 email from Jesse Lovegren to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) reads, without further explanation.
The withdrawal comes about two months after TCEQ’s executive director determined the application met applicable legal requirements and was set to be considered by the commissioners at a meeting on June 17.
The facility would have been a massive ethane cracking plant on undeveloped land in Nederland, Texas, turning components of natural gas into ethylene and propylene, raw ingredients of plastics, according to Oil and Gas Watch. The facility could have emitted more than 8,500 tons per year of harmful pollutants and more than 5.1 million tons per year of greenhouse gases.
“It had the potential to become one of the largest petrochemical sources of such air pollution in the state,” Public Health Watch reported. “Census data show roughly 40,000 people live within a few miles of the proposed site.”
Energy Transfer did not immediately respond to Chron’s request for comment on why the application was withdrawn or what it means for the project moving forward.