A snapshot of “nurdles” collected from the coast of Galveston, Texas, shows the condition of these plastics as they age in the marine environment. Nurdles, diminutive plastic pellets that are the primary ingredient in almost all plastic products, are polluting beaches and waterways across the country. (Photo courtesy of Turtle Island Restoration Network)
SEADRIFT, Texas — Aboard an aluminum boat or one of her five kayaks, fourth-generation shrimper and fisherman Diane Wilson often cruises the coastal bays and streams near her diminutive hometown of Seadrift, Texas.
But instead of catching shrimp, black drum or blue crab, the 77-year-old is now an environmental activist looking for “nurdles” – diminutive plastic pellets that pollute beaches and waterways in Texas and across the country.
Tiny balls, usually less than 5 millimeters in diameter, are the basic building blocks of almost all plastic products. However, if mishandled during production or transportation, they can leach through storm drains into waterways, posing a health risk to both wildlife and humans. They are complex to immaculate and behave like sponges for toxins as they move through the food chain.
Estimated 445,970 metric tons Nurli end up in the oceans every year.
“They’re everywhere,” said Wilson, who is now executive director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper, an environmental group focused on protecting Matagorda Bay on the Gulf Coast. “They pose a real threat to human health and the planet, which is why we are committed to protecting communities, fishermen and the bay.”
California passed law to cut pollution in 2007. Now the issue is attracting attention elsewhere: in 2025, lawmakers in Illinois, New Jersey AND Virginia entered bills.
However, the threat of environmental pollution is beginning to reverberate even beyond leftist countries. In Wilson’s deeply conservative Texas, a coalition of environmentalists, fishermen, business leaders and local officials are pushing for stricter regulations, arguing that pellets pose an economic threat to coastal communities.
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 “want to see this problem solved.” Zwiener introduced nursing bills during the past two legislative sessions and plans to do so again when the Legislature reconvenes in 2027.
“I think some in the industry realize what a black eye this is, and they would like to see some reduction in the number of worst actors,” Zwiener said.
The plastics industry has long recognized that many plastics end up in the environment. In 1991, she created a voluntary program called Operation Clean Sweepunder which participating nurdle operating companies commit to specific practices aimed at preventing leaks.
Charlotte Dreizen, who oversees Operation Clean Sweep for the Plastics Industry Association, said more than two-thirds of U.S. plastics production takes place at participating plants.
But Wilson and other critics say the program does not include significant reporting requirements, oversight or consequences.
“They’re just being sloppy and they can do better, but no one is forcing them to do it,” Wilson said. “Of course they have to be forced to do it.”
They pose a real threat to human health and the planet, which is why we strive to protect communities, fishermen and bays.
– Diane Wilson, Executive Director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper
In 2019, Wilson was winning co-plaintiff in a lawsuit that ended a record amount of $50 million against Formosa Plastics, a petrochemical manufacturer that illegally dumped billions of fish and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other Texas waterways. It was the largest-ever Clean Water Act settlement by a private citizen. Instead of being awarded to the plaintiffs, the money went into a fund to pay for projects to reverse pollution in affected waterways.
Now Wilson is preparing for another lawsuit: in December, she submitted a 60-day notice of intent sue the Dow Chemical Company, accusing it of illegally disposing of plastic pellets from its plant near Seadrift.
Part of a bigger problem
Nurdles are a genus microplastic pollutionbut not all microplastics are beads. Microplastics also include microbeads used as exfoliants in cosmetics and toothpastes, as well as diminutive particles from shredded plastic garbage, packaging and synthetic fibers. Some are so diminutive that they cannot be seen without a microscope.
Microplastics detected in cities tap waterIN bottled waterin rivers and throughout the area Great Lakes. Scientists estimate that adults consume the equivalent one credit card per week in microplastics, and studies on animals and human cells suggest they may be linked to cancer, heart attacks, reproductive problems and other harm.
Nurdles are larger than many other microplastics. They can be seen with the naked eye, and their uniform shape and size make them effortless to identify and collect. Last spring, volunteers joined the campaign nearly 50,000 plastic granulates within 11 days in over 200 locations in 14 countries, 29 US states and Washington
The largest number of individuals were recorded in Texas, mainly on the coast: 23,115 nurdles. California (4,167), Michigan (3,681), South Carolina (3,094) and Ohio (2,851) also reported significant amounts.
In the Upper Midwest, environmental advocates are advocating for pellet control legislation to protect the five Great Lakes, which collectively power the economies of eight states.
“I think there are concerns all around about whether we can prevent this from having a devastating impact on our regions,” said Andrea Densham, senior policy advisor at the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
On the West Coast, nodules washing up from the Pacific Ocean onto the Oregon coast can be so copious that “it looks like the pellets have become part of the sand,” said Celeste Meiffren-Swango, Oregon’s environmental director. “More and more pellets are being released into the environment and they are not being removed from the environment.”
A matter of economics
In Texas, which has at least 36 plastics plants, Zwiener’s bill – which is stuck in committee – would classify noodles as non-hazardous industrial waste, which would introduce recordkeeping and storage rules. It would also require monitoring surrounding waters and conducting monthly leak audits by plastics manufacturing plants.
During a 2025 hearing on the legislation, Logan Harrell of the Texas Chemistry Council told lawmakers that “the industry is already voluntarily addressing this issue” by improving how it responds to spills and doing more to prevent them. The bill “would result in overregulation and would likely add complications due to ambiguous language and other burdensome requirements,” Harrell said.
Though Zwiener Calculus AND comrade’s bill failed to reach an agreement in the state Senate, supporters say sentiment could change as more plastic pellets appear on Texas beaches.
In October, organizations representing recreational fishermen, oyster harvesters, tourism groups and others sent letter to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, urging him to direct the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to adopt standards to prevent nursery discharges into waterways as part of a planned revision of water quality standards.
The letter highlighted the potential economic impact of pollution, noting that the state’s outdoor recreation industry supports nearly 300,000 jobs, $14 billion in wages and adds a total of $31 billion in value to the Texas economy.
The agency considered banning plastic discharges during its last rule revision in 2022, but he apparently withdrew amid industry pressure. Abbott’s office and the agency declined to comment on the letter.
No city in Texas is more dependent on immaculate beaches than Galveston, a coastal city of more than 53,000 people that attracts up to 8 million tourists each year. In October, the city council unanimously approved this resolution resolution echoing a letter that fishing and tourism groups sent to the Texas governor.
“This has been a long-term problem,” said Joanie Steinhaus, director of the ocean program at the Galveston office of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, a California nonprofit that advocates for oceans and marine wildlife. The group sponsors regular nurdle patrols on Galveston beaches, and over the past five years, volunteers have collected more than 17,000 nurdles, according to Steinhaus.
Recently, anti-null efforts have gained momentum thanks to J.P. Bryan, a prominent Texas oilman and preservationist who founded the Bryan Museum in Galveston. Bryan wrote a widely publicized article titled in The Dallas Morning News, where he shared childhood memories of the beaches of Freeport, Texas, and called for action to reduce marine pollution.
“For Texans who value both economic growth and environmental stewardship, addressing the plastic bottle scourge is not only an ecological imperative, but an economic necessity,” Bryan wrote.
“This problem needs to be solved, preferably by the people causing it,” Bryan continued, “but if that doesn’t happen, good government can and should prevent companies from causing economic and environmental damage from plastic pellet leaks.”
This story was originally produced by state linewhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Ohio Capital Journal and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
