![A snapshot of \"nurdles\" \u2014 tiny plastic pellets that are the basic building blocks of nearly all plastic products.](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nurdles-main.jpg\")
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A snapshot of “nurdles” collected from Galveston, Texas, shorelines shows the condition of these plastics as they weather in the marine environment. Nurdles, the tiny plastic pellets that are the basic building blocks of nearly all plastic products, are polluting beaches and waterways around the country. (Photo courtesy of Turtle Island Restoration Network)<\/p>\n
SEADRIFT, Texas \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
But instead of fishing for shrimp, black drum or blue crabs, these days the 77-year-old is an environmental activist looking for \u201cnurdles\u201d\u2014 tiny plastic pellets that are polluting beaches and waterways in Texas and around the country.<\/p>\n
The minuscule spheres, typically less than 5 millimeters in diameter, are the basic building blocks of nearly all plastic products. But when they are mishandled during manufacturing or transport, they can slip through storm drains and into waterways, posing a health threat to both wildlife and humans. They are difficult to clean up, and act like sponges for toxins<\/a> as they progress through the food chain.<\/p>\n An estimated 445,970 metric tons<\/a> of nurdles make their way into oceans annually.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re everywhere,\u201d said Wilson, who is now executive director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper, an environmental group focused on protecting Matagorda Bay, on the Texas Gulf Coast. \u201cThey\u2019re a real threat to human health and the planet, and we\u2019re trying to protect the communities and the fishermen and the bays.\u201d<\/p>\n California enacted a law<\/a> designed to curb nurdle pollution in 2007. Now the issue is gaining attention elsewhere: In 2025, legislators in Illinois<\/a>, New Jersey<\/a> and Virginia<\/a> introduced bills.<\/p>\n But the threat of nurdle pollution is beginning to resonate even beyond such left-leaning states. In Wilson\u2019s deeply conservative Texas, a coalition of environmentalists, fishermen, business leaders and local officials is pushing for more nurdle regulation, arguing that the pellets pose an economic threat to coastal communities.<\/p>\n State Rep. Erin Zwiener, a Democrat from the Austin-area town of Dripping Springs, said in an interview that even some in the plastics industry \u201cwant to see this issue get solved.\u201d Zwiener has introduced nurdle bills<\/a> during the past two legislative sessions and plans to do so again when the legislature reconvenes in 2027.<\/p>\n \u201cI think some members of industry know the black eye they\u2019re getting on this and would like to see some curtailment of the worst actors,\u201d Zwiener said.<\/p>\n The plastics industry has long acknowledged that many nurdles leak into the environment. In 1991, it created a voluntary program called Operation Clean Sweep<\/a>, under which participating nurdle-handling operations commit to certain practices to prevent spills.<\/p>\n Charlotte Dreizen, who oversees Operation Clean Sweep for the Plastics Industry Association, said more than two-thirds of U.S. plastics production occurs at a participating facility.<\/p>\n But Wilson and other critics say the program doesn\u2019t include<\/a> meaningful reporting requirements, oversight or consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re just being sloppy, and they can do better, but nobody\u2019s making them do it,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cThey obviously have to be forced into it.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re a real threat to human health and the planet, and we\u2019re trying to protect the communities and the fishermen and the bays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2013 Diane Wilson, executive director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In 2019, Wilson was a victorious co-plaintiff<\/a> in a lawsuit that resulted in a record $50 million settlement<\/a> against Formosa Plastics, a petrochemical manufacturer that illegally dumped billions of nurdles and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other Texas waterways. It was the largest-ever settlement of a Clean Water Act suit filed by private citizens. Instead of being awarded to the plaintiffs, the money went into a fund to pay for projects to reverse pollution in the affected waterways.<\/p>\n Now, Wilson is gearing up for another lawsuit: In December, she filed a 60-day legal notice of intent<\/a> to sue Dow Chemical Company, alleging it has been illegally discharging plastic pellets from its plant near Seadrift.<\/p>\n Nurdles are a type of microplastic pollution<\/a>, but not all microplastics are nurdles. Microplastics also include microbeads, which are used as exfoliating agents in cosmetics and toothpaste, and tiny particles from broken-down plastic litter, packaging and synthetic fibers. Some are so small they can\u2019t be seen without a microscope.<\/p>\n Microplastics have been detected in cities\u2019 tap water<\/a>, in bottled water<\/a>, in rivers and throughout the Great Lakes<\/a>. Scientists estimate that adults ingest the equivalent of one credit card per week<\/a> in microplastics, and studies in animals and human cells suggest they could be connected to cancer, heart attacks, reproductive problems and other harms.<\/p>\n Nurdles are larger than many other microplastics. They can be seen with the naked eye, and their uniform shape and size make them easier to identify and collect. This past spring, volunteers scooped up nearly 50,000 plastic pellets<\/a> over an 11-day period at more than 200 sites across 14 countries, 29 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n Texas sites, mostly on the coast, yielded the highest count: 23,115 nurdles. California (4,167), Michigan (3,681), South Carolina (3,094) and Ohio (2,851) also reported substantial amounts.<\/p>\n In the Upper Midwest, environmental advocates are rallying behind pellet-control legislation to protect the five Great Lakes that collectively serve as an economic engine for eight states.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s concern up and down and all around in terms of making sure we can prevent this from having a devastating impact in our regions,\u201d said Andrea Densham, senior policy adviser for the Alliance for the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n On the West Coast, nurdles washing onto the coast of Oregon from the Pacific Ocean can be so numerous that \u201cit looks like pellets have become part of the sand,\u201d said Celeste Meiffren-Swango, director of Environment Oregon. \u201cMore and more pellets are ending up in the environment and they\u2019re not getting taken out of the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n In Texas, which has at least 36 plastic production plants, Zwiener\u2019s bill \u2014 which stalled in committee \u2014 would have classified nurdles as non-hazardous industrial waste, triggering record-keeping and containment rules. It also would have required plastics facilities to monitor surrounding waters and conduct monthly audits of spills.<\/p>\n During a 2025 hearing on the legislation, Logan Harrell of the Texas Chemistry Council told lawmakers that the \u201cindustry is already voluntarily addressing the issue,\u201d by improving how it responds to spills and doing more to prevent them. The bill \u201cwould result in overregulation and likely add complications based on some ambiguous language and other burdensome requirements,\u201d Harrell said.<\/p>\n Though Zwiener\u2019s bill<\/a> and a companion bill<\/a> in the state Senate failed to advance, supporters say the mood may be shifting as more plastic pellets show up on Texas beaches.<\/p>\n In October, organizations representing recreational fishermen, oyster harvesters, tourism groups and others sent a letter<\/a> to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, urging him to direct the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt standards to prevent the discharge of nurdles into waterways as part of its scheduled revision of water quality standards.<\/p>\n The letter emphasizes the potential economic impact of the pollution, noting that the state\u2019s outdoor recreation industry supports nearly 300,000 jobs, $14 billion in salaries and adds $31 billion in total value to the Texas economy.<\/p>\n The agency was considering a ban on plastics discharges during its last revision of the rules in 2022, but reportedly backed away<\/a> amid industry pressure. Abbott\u2019s office and the agency declined to comment on the letter.<\/p>\n No city in Texas is more dependent on clean beaches than Galveston, a coastal city of more than 53,000 that draws up to 8 million visitors each year. In October, the city council unanimously approved a resolution<\/a> echoing the letter the fishing and tourism groups sent to the Texas governor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a problem, long term,\u201d said Joanie Steinhaus, ocean program director at the Galveston office of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, a California-based nonprofit that advocates for oceans and marine wildlife. The group sponsors regular nurdle patrols on Galveston beaches, and volunteers have collected more than 17,000 nurdles in the past five years, according to Steinhaus.<\/p>\n Recently, the anti-nurdle effort has gotten a boost from J.P. Bryan, a prominent Texas oilman and historic preservationist who founded the Bryan Museum in Galveston. Bryan wrote a widely publicized op-ed<\/a> in The Dallas Morning News, in which he shared his childhood memories of the beaches of Freeport, Texas, and called for action to curb nurdle pollution.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Texans who value both economic growth and environmental stewardship, addressing the scourge of plastic nurdles is not only an ecological imperative, but an economic necessity,\u201d Bryan wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThis problem needs solving, preferably by those causing the problem,\u201d Bryan continued, \u201cbut if they won\u2019t, then good government can and should prevent companies from causing economic and environmental damage through plastic pellet spills.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Diane](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Diane-Wilson.jpeg\")
\n<\/div>\n\n\nPart of a larger problem<\/h4>\n
A question of economics<\/h4>\n
![\"Community](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Nurdle-patrol.jpg\")