Westlake Chemicals
Profile
Westlake Chemical is a petrochemical company that makes plastic products such as polyvinyl choride (PVC) and building materials. It was founded in 1986 by Ting Tsung Chao in 1986 in Houston, Texas. Westlake first purchased a polyethylene plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, followed by petrochemical plants in Calvert City, Kentucky, in 1990. Investigative journalists have documented many instances of releases of toxic carcinogens from all of these plants - for example Westlake emitted 48,000 times more ethylene dichloride than all other companies in Calvert City put together and over 28 times more vinyl chloride emissions than all of the others. In 2021, five workers were injured in an explosion at Westlake’s plant in Sulphur, Louisiana, and another six workers were injured in an explosion at a company plant in Westlake, Louisiana in January 2022. In June 2022, Westlake agreed to pay a $1 million civil penalty and invest $110 million in safety upgrades at the two Louisiana plants as well as the Calvert City plant. Westlake was also fined $350,000 in November 2020 for mercury pollution of the Ohio river in West Virginia.
Chemicals, petrochemicals
Violations
| Top 5 Offense Groups (Groups Defined) | Penalty Total | Number of Records |
|---|---|---|
| environment-related offenses | $118,016,138 | 56 |
| safety-related offenses | $791,625 | 55 |
| government-contracting-related offenses | $500,000 | 1 |
| employment-related offenses | $475,000 | 1 |
| competition-related offenses | $12,000 | 1 |
(September 30, 2022)
Stories
Activism
A March Through Heat, Felony Threats, and Pollution Brings Louisiana’s Cancer Alley to Governor’s Attention
Julie Dermansky | DeSmog | June 5, 2019
On June 3, at the end of a five-day march through stifling heat in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, activists fighting against environmental racism reached their goal of bringing attention to their area’s injustices to the state capitol.
- A Community Voice
- Alliance for Affordable Energy
- Climate Reality New Orleans
- Coalition Against Death Alley
- Healthy Gulf
- Justice and Beyond
- Louisiana Bucket Brigade
- Louisiana League of Conscious Voters
- New Orleans Office Sierra Club
- Poor Peoples Campaign
- SouthWings
- Sunrise Movement, New Orleans
- RISE St. James
- 350 New Orleans
& Lawsuits
Workers who suffered injuries during chemical plant explosion at Westlake sue for $1M plus
Marian Johns | Southeast Texas Record | October 20, 2021
Westlake Chemical is facing a suit after workers were injured during an explosion at their Lousiana plant.
Lawsuits filed following Sept. 27 explosion at Westlake Chemical
Madison Glaser | KPLC | October 4, 2021
A second lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a worker injured in last week’s plant explosion at Westlake Chemical.
Westlake Unit Will Pay $350K To Settle Mercury Pollution Row
Morgan Conley | Law360 | November 30, 2020
A chemical plant owned by a Westlake Chemical Corp. unit will pay over $350000 and install new technology at its site on the Ohio River.
Environmental Impacts
A detailed look at Westlake Chemical plant in Geismar's string of accidental leaks
David Mitchell | The Advocate | March 10, 2019
A small chlorine gas leak from the Westlake Chemical vinyls plant in Geismar on March 4 was the ninth accidental release since the start of 2018.
PERI Pollution Indexes
Based on United States Environmental Protection Agency data ranking the top 100 worst polluters.
Worker burned in explosion sues Westlake Chemical
John Guidros | American Press | October 4, 2021
A Houston law firm filed suit Monday against Westlake Chemical following a Sept. 27 explosion at the Sulphur plant that injured six contract employees who were working on a planned maintenance turnaround.
4 of 6 injured in explosion at Louisiana chemical plant released from hospital
KPLC | ABC 7 News | September 28, 2021
Six people were injured in an explosion at Westlake Chemical Monday night, KPLC reports. Four of the six have since been released from the hospital, according to company spokesperson Joe Andrepont.
Financials
Note: Most recent list is not always the most complete list.
- Westlake Chemical Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2020)
- Westlake Chemical Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2019)
- Westlake Chemical Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2018)
- Westlake Chemical Subsidiaries (via U.S. SEC 2018)
Croctail Subsidiary Tool using the CorpWatch API - This API extracts the subsidiary relationship information from Exhibit 21 of companies' 10-K filings with the US SEC.
- CIK numbers link to SEC database (EDGAR)
- Section 21 links to SEC list of companies.
- Westlake Chemical Croctail Profile
Click here for the latest data.
Political Influence
Open Secrets - Tracks corporate lobbying of US politicians.
OpenSecrets.org Profile of Westlake Chemicals
Import & Export Data
ImportYeti - Shipping Tracking Tool - Bill of ladings are public information that are too cost prohibitive, challenging to obtain and difficult to use for the average joe. ImportYeti's goal is to solve that problem.
- ImportYeti Profile of Westlake Chemical
& Evasion
55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits
Matthew Gardner Steve Wamhoff | ITEP | April 2, 2021
At least 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the United States.
Westlake Chemical mulls $450M expansion in Geismar; would create 15 new jobs, 200 construction jobs
Kristen Mosbrucker | The Advocate | August 12, 2019
Houston-based Westlake Chemical is considering a $450 million expansion in Geismar. Westlake Chemical has not yet made a final determination to move forward with the expansion, according to the company, but it told investors that there's a growing market opportunity for its products. The expansion would be completed by 2023.
Procurement
CorpWatch is still gathering procurement data for Westlake Chemical at this time.