Unusual Legal Gambit Pays Off For Environmental Activists Arrested In Livingston

LIVINGSTON, NJ — An unusual legal gambit from four environmental activists has paid off after their recent arrest during a protest in New Jersey.

On Tuesday, the “Formosa Four” announced that a municipal prosecutor in Livingston has dismissed defiant trespassing charges against them.

The charges date back to August 2024, when nearly 100 people held a demonstration outside the Formosa USA headquarters on Peach Tree Hill Road in Livingston. Activists accused the international petrochemical manufacturer of violating environmental laws and polluting communities overseas, as well as in Texas and Louisiana, where it also has facilities.

Most of the protesters voluntarily left the property at the request of local police, but six people were arrested after refusing to leave.

Two of the protesters pleaded guilty to the trespassing charge and received fines. But the remaining four took their case to trial, pleading not guilty at an initial hearing in Livingston Municipal Court. Read More: Activists Arrested In Livingston At Formosa Protest Plead Not Guilty

Last September, the activists – now calling themselves the “Formosa Four” – held an online media briefing about their legal strategy and plans to fight the charges (view it online here).

A second pretrial hearing took place on Sept. 26. During their follow-up court appearance, a municipal judge denied the activists’ request to admit expert testimony in support of a “necessity defense” – a legal tactic that attempts to prove that a person’s illegal conduct was the lesser of two evils.

Livingston’s municipal judge didn’t agree with their plan, telling the defendants that “this is not going to be a political court for some kind of environmental agenda.”

• See Related: Civil Disobedience At Livingston Protest Was ‘Necessary,’ Activists Argue

The Formosa Four’s attorney appealed the ruling to the New Jersey Superior Court Law Division, temporarily putting the trial on hold until April of 2025, when they got some good news: they would be allowed to argue their necessity defense in court.

In his written opinion, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Arthur Batista said that the case is unique because a federal court had previously ruled that one of the protesters, Diane Wilson, suffered economic harm from Formosa.

In 2019, the company agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit in which a judge ruled the company illegally dumped billions of plastic pellets and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other waterways in the Texas region.

"The appellants contend that the very same injurious actions for which the corporation was previously found liable continue unabated and persist, harming Wilson and others," the judge wrote, adding that the demonstration in Livingston was "not simply a run-of-the-mill political protest."

The case was remanded to the Livingston Municipal Court for trial.

• See Related: Activists Can Use Rare Legal Defense In NJ Trespassing Case, Judge Rules

Earlier this week, the trespassing charges were dropped – sparking a cheer from the Formosa Four and their legal team.

“Once we received Judge Batista’s pathbreaking decision, I knew we had a very strong case for acquittal,” lead defense counsel Bennet Zurofsky said, accusing Formosa of also committing environmental and human rights violations in Vietnam, Cambodia and Taiwan.

The four activists said they plan to continue their campaign against Formosa.

“While this decision is a victory, I will not stop taking on this serial polluter that thinks it is above the law, and I will continue to do all that I have to do to protect my community,” Wilson said.

Paula Rogovin of Food and Water Watch New Jersey said this week’s dismissal of the charges is a “major victory for the environment and public health.”

“We have exposed Formosa Plastics, a serial polluter which views a $50 million settlement under the Clean Water Act, a settlement requiring zero plastic discharge from its Texas plant into Lavaca Bay, and the payment of $30 million in fines for continued dumping of plastic pellets into the waterways near its factory in Point Comfort, Texas, as a ‘cost of doing business,’” the Teaneck resident alleged.

“We will continue our efforts to stop this fossil fuel polluter,” she added.

Other defendants involved in the case include Robin Schneider and Matthew Kennedy of Texas Campaign for the Environment.

FORMOSA: ‘ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE AND IN COMPLIANCE’

Company spokespeople have pointed out that Formosa Plastics Corporation USA is a legally distinct entity from Formosa Plastics Group, which is headquartered in Taiwan. The Livingston office focuses on its operations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Point Comfort, Texas.

The plastics manufacturing company employs hundreds of workers at their Livingston location, who provide the majority of its “business support operations” such as management, marketing, sales, legal and logistics.

After the August 2024 protest, Formosa USA spokespeople told Patch that the company is using programs to prevent resin loss by implementing stringent containment measures throughout its facilities. These programs focus on “minimizing pellet, flake, and powder loss at every stage of production and transportation.”

“In Point Comfort, where our only pellet production operations are located, we've implemented state-of-the-art technologies to control the release of plastics into the environment,” spokespeople continued, sharing a video with more details (view it online here).

“We remain committed to conducting our business in a manner that is environmentally responsible and in compliance with all applicable U.S. regulations,” spokespeople concluded. “We are open to engaging in dialogue with concerned parties about our practices here in the United States and welcome the opportunity for constructive conversations.”

On its website, Formosa Plastics says that “improved efficiency” has allowed it to reduce emissions by 50 percent over 10 years.

“Formosa seeks to reduce the impact of our operations by constantly improving and reducing water use, energy, emissions and waste,” the company’s website states. “Goals are set every year and all facilities track their progress in detail. Independent organizations like BSI audit our facilities to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard every six months and conduct a full recertification every two years.”

Despite the company’s assurances, activists continue to accuse Formosa of thumbing its nose at the people who live in the communities it operates in. Ongoing protests against the company have also been taking place in Louisiana and Texas.

A 2021 report from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), the Center for Biological Diversity, and Earthworks claimed that Formosa Plastics Group’s six-decade track record is “riddled with environmental, health, safety and labor violations, including devastating accidents and persistent pollution in multiple countries.”

“From Point Comfort, Texas, to Ha Tinh, Vietnam; Illiopolis, Illinois; and Yunlin County, Taiwan, the Formosa Plastics Group has left a global track record that demonstrates how the rights and safety of local communities and workers, as well as the environment and public health, have become casualties of corporate profit,” the report alleged.

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