Construction was initially set to begin in 2019, with the initial opening date set for 2024 and the final stage of the development being completed by approximately 2029. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) approved the air permits for the project in January 2020. In February 2020, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit to challenge LDEQ's approval of the air permits. In May 2018, citing stronger demand in the co-polymer market, Formosa Plastics announced new expansions in polyethylene and polypropylene production plant technologies for its facility in Point Comfort, all licensed from ExxonMobil, Univation Technologies, and Japan Polypropylene Corporation. In August 2019, the first of two new polyethylene plants had begun operating. The second plant and cracker were scheduled to fully operate in December 2019, but their opening was delayed until at least April 2020, pending further updates. The new polypropylene plant is scheduled to begin operating in the third quarter of 2021. In August 2019, Formosa Plastics announced it was planning to invest in a US$332 million expansion at its Baton Rouge facility to expand production of PVC resin. Construction began later in the year and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2021. The expansion would allow the company to produce an additional 300 million pounds of resin. For the expansion, the company would receive a performance-based grant up to US$500,000 from the state of Louisiana. In 1999, Formosa Plastics used bribes to dump 3000 tons of mercury-laden waste in Sihanoukville, Cambodia – three local villagers died shortly afterwards, although a report commissioned by the World Health Organization concluded it was unlikely the deaths were due to mercury poisoning. The company later tried to ship the waste to a hazardous waste site in Nevada. A 2002 survey undertaken by Scorecard, an environmental watch group, rated Formosa Plastics' facilities in the 90% percentile of the worst environmental polluters. In September 2009, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced that Formosa Plastics would spend more than US$10 million to address air, water, and hazardous waste violations from two of the company's plants in Point Comfort and Baton Rouge, after inspectors found leak detection and repair and waste violations at the facilities. Formosa Plastics also agreed to pay an additional civil penalty of US$2.8 million for numerous federal law violations. In April 2012, Formosa Plastics filed a US$1.3 million civil suit for a tort claim and a criminal suit for defamation against Ben-Jei Tsuang, a scientist who works at National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, for presenting evidence of increased cancer risk in the vicinity of the Formosa Plastic Group hydrocarbon-processing facility in Mailiao at a scientific meeting and in a paper.