Texas court keeps ethylene flowing to Westlake's Longview polyethylene plant

A Texas district judge has turned down a request to shut the pipeline that carries ethylene to Westlake's polyethylene plant near Longview, the Marshall News Messenger reported on 23 October. Westlake's plant manager had told the court that more than 400 workers would be laid off straight away if the line closed.

The dispute

The case was brought by Larry Wright, owner of Express H2O Pipeline and ROW LLC, who bought an older, disused pipeline several years ago. His lawyers argued that Westlake's line, which runs from Gulf Coast suppliers to the plant, conflicts with the easements attached to his pipeline, and asked for a permanent injunction to close it. A damages claim of more than $100 million was raised early on and later dropped.

After a two-day bench trial in Lufkin, Judge Todd Kassaw of the 159th District Court in Angelina County denied the injunction. He found Wright had not shown that the Westlake pipeline harmed him, and that the easements were not exclusive, so the two lines can coexist. The court did confirm that Wright's easements are older and rank above Westlake's.

"Both sides have some risk on appeal." Brent Coon, attorney for Wright

Another of Wright's lawyers said the company is evaluating the order before deciding what to do next.

Why the line matters

The plant sits inside the Eastman Chemical complex outside Longview and makes polyethylene, which goes into products including bags, bottles and pipe. Most of its ethylene arrives through the disputed line, with some supplied by Eastman. Plant manager Brandon Herber told the court that switching to rail would mean spending millions of dollars on new railcar facilities. Westlake documents shown in court put the plant's yearly economic contribution within 100 miles of Longview at roughly $97 million, and the paper reports the site employs more than 500 people.

What it means for pipe

For HDPE pipe makers, the story is about supply resilience more than price. Polyethylene resin is the main input for pressure and gravity pipe, and a sudden loss of a US PE plant would tighten an already watched supply chain. The ruling removes that risk for now, although a possible appeal means it is not fully closed. It is also a reminder that an inland resin plant can depend heavily on a single feedstock line from the coast.