Formosa Plastics has secured air permits from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for a $9.4 billion petrochemical complex it plans to develop in St. James Parish.
The Taiwanese company secured all 16 air permits for its ethylene plant, which will produce ethylene, propylene, ethylene glycol and polymers, according to Formosa’s website. No timeline has been announced for the project, which remains in the development and the permitting phase.
Formosa has purchased a 2,400-acre site on the west bank of the Mississippi River near the Sunshine Bridge in the parish. The proposed plant—dubbed the Sunshine Project—is designed to be built in two phases over the next 10 years and is expected to create 1,200 jobs plus 8,000 construction jobs.
The project remains controversial among environmental groups.
