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Plastic pellets known as ‘nurdles’ are polluting beaches and waterways
Texas activists and lawmakers seek regulations and legal actions to reduce plastic pellet pollution, with Texas sites yielding the highest nurdle counts in a recent international cleanup.
- Recently, Diane Wilson filed a 60-day legal notice alleging Dow Chemical Company illegally discharged plastic pellets from its plant near Seadrift, Texas, while leading San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper’s local pollution efforts.
- State Rep. Erin Zwiener has introduced nurdle bills in past sessions and plans to refile when the Texas Legislature reconvenes in 2027, though prior measures stalled in committee.
- Volunteer counts show nearly 50,000 plastic pellets collected this past spring at more than 200 sites across 14 countries, with Texas yielding 23,115 nurdles and California, Michigan, South Carolina, and Ohio reporting significant amounts.
- Organizations representing recreational fishermen, oyster harvesters and tourism groups asked Gov. Greg Abbott to direct the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt nurdle standards, citing nearly 300,000 jobs and $31 billion economic value.
- Recently, conservation and business figures have noted legislators in Illinois, New Jersey and Virginia introduced bills in 2025, while critics say Operation Clean Sweep lacks oversight amid 445,970 metric tons of nurdles entering oceans annually and microplastics found in drinking water with possible health links.
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11 Articles
Times-Standard+10 Reposted by 10 other sources
Plastic pellets known as ‘nurdles’ are polluting beaches and waterways
By David Montgomery, Stateline.org SEADRIFT, Texas — Aboard an aluminum skiff or one of her five kayaks, fourth-generation shrimper and fisherwoman Diane Wilson often plies the coastal bays and streams near her tiny hometown of Seadrift, Texas. But instead of fishing for shrimp, black drum or blue crabs, these days the 77-year-old is an environmental activist looking for “nurdles”— tiny plastic pellets that are polluting beaches and waterways in…
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Total News Sources11
Leaning Left1Leaning Right2Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution73% Center
Bias Distribution
- 73% of the sources are Center
73% Center
C 73%
R 18%
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