The construction of BLCP coal plant required a deepening of the port and digging a canal to the unloading coal supply zone. The Belgian dredging company Jan De Nul obtained the contract for the dredging activities. Delcredere has reportedly insured Jan De Nul Enterprise against political risks for 2.5 million Euros.

The dredging and land reclamation for the BLCP berth Project at Map Ta Phut caused erosion by disrupting the course of waves and currents. The entire coastal area of Rayong province including the beach area, the housing area and the river mouth, suffers from severe erosion. The Thai government has spent more than 10 million Euros to protect the coast by building different structures. Unfortunately, the erosion of the coast is not halted entirely, it is partly transferred along the coast towards other areas. The coastal erosion in the area near Map Ta Phut port is so strong that the coastal protection over there is unsuccessful.

The small-scale fishing communities along Rayong's seacoast have also been suffering a lot from the ill-advised coal plant project. They were forced to abandon the beach area for commercial tourism, mangrove forests have been clear-cut for industrial shrimp farming, estuaries have been transformed from life-supporting systems to drainage systems for industrial effluents. In short: the entire coastal area of the province is under threat.

A recent health impact study in Map Ta Phut area clearly indicated that exposure to pollution and chemicals accidents have worsened an already severely degraded socio-economic situation. The study also noted that groups of diseases related to respiratory system, nervous system, reproductive system, muscle system, mental disorder, accident and injury, have become much more alarming than rates of the whole country .

The Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate alone has more than 200 smokestacks, which can release pollutants to 25 communities living around the estate. After 1997, when a local public school had to be closed down (and, later, moved out of the area), due to serious air pollution and health impacts, the pollution problems in Map Ta Phut have become more  known to the Thai public as the most obvious and serious case of undesirable impacts from unsustainable industrialization.

A recent study, jointly conducted by the Office of Natural Resource and Environmental Planning and Policy(ONEP) and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand(IEAT), noted that air pollution especially sulfur dioxide(SO2) and oxide of nitrogen(NOX) already exceeded acceptable levels. The study further indicated that toxic emissions from BLCP's coal plant will be adding up more pollution in the area at a critical level .

The test on fly ash sample taken by Greenpeace in June 2005 from the fly ash cement block center - a community relations program of BLCP coal plant project in Map Ta Phut communities showed an alarming increase in the toxic threat facing host communities.  The test results revealed fly ash contaminated with a range of toxic and potentially toxic element such as mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic and nickel and raised the possibility of widespread toxic contamination in the vicinity.

The test results expose the emptiness of BLCP's touted corporate governance, which states that the company's policy is "to live harmoniously with the surrounding community and offer a win-win solution to all members"

The health and livelihood of community members of Map Ta Phut continue to be threatened by the severe toxic pollution from the biggest petrochemical complex in the country.  Tragically, their future is now further jeopardized with the extreme toxic threat posed by BLCP's planned coal-fired power plant, the construction of which is riding today on an aggressive public relations drive by the company peddling the lie that there is supposedly such a thing as 'clean coal'.