A local fisherman with three different kinds of cancer told fourth-generation shrimper and low-income single mother of five Diane Wilson about these alarming developments, which disturbed her greatly and drove her to act against FPC [5]. She began investigating the company, which “had totally changed the ecosystem” according to the Texas Water Commission as well as “indicated genetic damage in cattle as far as six miles away from Formosa’s chemical plant in Point Comfort, where workers have also dealt with concerns of brain cancer and cases of neurological damage for decades” according to a report from Texas A&M. Wilson and her watchdogs found shoddy construction from the very beginning of the new plant’s construction and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later found massively contaminated groundwater under the plant. Formosa was repeatedly fined for water quality violations, Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations, etc. but had been covering those up for a long time [9]. Calling local meetings with her fellow residents to share her discoveries, however, was not well-received because various officials and business people did not like anyone attacking what was thought of as the county’s next biggest employer. Neighbors shunned her, smear campaigns undermined her reputation, thugs threatened her, and she began receiving death threats [11].

 In 1995, Wilson caught FPC dumping millions of gallons of toxic wastewater directly into the bay without any wastewater permits [9]. To fight this crime, she teamed up with several nonprofits as well as environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn to file a lawsuit against the company [9]. She also tried to garner more attention to the cause with a publicity stunt in which she snuck her shrimp boat on top of the source of the illegal discharge in the middle of the night and stranded it there. The Coast Guard later confiscated the boat and arrested her, accusing her of being a terrorist [2]. This would be the first of thirteen stints in jail she would face throughout her activism [11]. Continuing to move forward with the lawsuit after her release, however, she faced a major betrayal when Jim Blackburn went behind her back to negotiate with FPC and signed a deal to stop acting against FPC that he thought would protect the community. Wilson was so upset by his actions during an already turbulent period that the night before the deal was to be put in place, she went out on her boat and tried to kill herself with pills and wine. Her suicide attempt failed, she “just felt horrible and the deal went ahead anyway” [9].

 With only up to a high school education, she educated herself on legal analysis and briefing while also regularly doing hunger strikes, nonviolent protests, and acts of civil disobedience, never giving up her battle with FPC [11]. For twenty years, she was also talking with the workers inside the Formosa facility about unreported toxic releases, workers falling and dying from unsafe towers and ladders, rusty breathing air valves or no breathing air at all, breached toxic basins that ran across the fields, killing everything in its path, and uncontained vinyl chloride leaks so plentiful that the alarms were shut off in the control room so the workers could get some peace. These workers sent complaints to Formosa’s management, but the complaints weren’t welcomed and would get workers fired [9].

 On October 6, 2005 at approximately 15:00, a hole ripped in one of the pipes at the Point Comfort plant, leaking a pool of liquid propylene which then became a flammable vapor cloud. Workers in the area immediately evacuated the area and operators tried to shut down the machines manually but were slowed down by the vapor cloud. Consequently, there was a massive propylene release and explosion. Emergency response teams eventually isolated the resulting fire and shut down the plant, though the fire continued to burn for about a week. The fires reached upwards of 250 meters tall and could be seen in surrounding towns. The accident injured twelve workers, four with severe burns requiring hospitalization. Many others were treated for exhaustion, pulmonary problems, and debilitating physical injuries [14]. Formosa Plastics was charged with many infractions of structural and working condition violations by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, fining them for $148,000 [13].

 In October 2009, the EPA held a meeting with community members warning them about Formosa contaminating groundwater with ethylene dichloride, tainting local water wells. Public health officials began persisting on getting FPC to release information on the consequences of their pollution and poor working conditions to little success. Many workers have been diagnosed with severe illnesses and cancers, especially brain cancer, and several have already died. In response torapidly rising panic among workers about brain cancer, FPC brought a doctor in to tell all the employees that there is no link between petrochemical exposure and brain cancer and they were probably developing knots on their heads from all the barbeque they ate [9].

 After thirty years of fighting, Wilson finally made a breakthrough with her efforts to sue FPC. In July 2017, FPC’s Point Comfort plant dumped between 151 tons of plastic pelletsand powder into Lavaca Bay and between 1,556 tons of plastic and powder into Cox Creek, according to Texas RioGrande Legal Aid [12]. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back, because widespread outrage over the incident gained massive support for the cause against FPC, resulting in Wilson and a coalition of environmental groups finally succeeding in finalizing a lawsuit against the company for $50 million  which will be used to clean up the plastics. U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt sided with environmental activists on July 9, 2019, ruling that Formosa violated state and federal law when its Point Comfort plant dumped the plastics into Lavaca Bay and Cox Creek. "I have been doing this around 30 years now and this was the first time I ever felt justice was delivered," Wilson said in an interviewwith the Houston Chronicle [3].