AUSTIN (KXAN) — A tiny pellet is harming wildlife and entering our waterways. A new push from nonprofit Environment Texas is aiming to change state water quality standards and reduce the amount of these pellets in the state.
“Nurdles are small plastic pellets. They’re usually about a fish egg in size,” said Jo Cisco, a graduate student at the University of Texas. “They serve as the raw material for essentially all plastic production. They’re made from polymers like polyethylene or polypropylene or some of the more common plastics.”
On Thursday, Environment Texas hosted a Webinar alongside Galveston, Texas, city leaders, highlighting the dangers of nurdles.
The city of Galveston passed a resolution in October calling on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to create policies to protect the city from nurdle pollution.
Texas = Plastics
The state of Texas has several pre-production plastic facilities, most of which are in Harris County. On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced one of the companies that produces nurdles, Formosa Plastics, would open a new plant with state incentives.
“Texas leads the nation in chemical production and exports,” said Abbott in a statement. “This $150 million investment by Formosa Plastics will grow good-paying jobs for Texans, expand economic opportunity in Jackson County, and further our state’s manufacturing leadership.”
Starting in 2017, Formosa became involved in a lawsuit over nurdles. A fisherwoman in Port Lavaca filed a civil suit against the company, claiming they violated the Clean Water Act by discharging nurdles into the bay.
The company settled with the woman, Diane Wilson, for $50 million. Wilson used some of those funds to help finance The Nurdle Patrol, a group that collects and catalogues nurdles found on the Texas coast.
Following the lawsuit, the company agreed to stop discharging nurdles into the water near its facility in Pointe Comfort.
Nurdles as a health risk
These tiny plastic pellets are dangerous for wildlife. “One big thing that we see in the ocean environment are that animals mistake them for food sources,” Cisco said.
She said that they cause internal blockages and malnutrition. Additionally, they can help transport dangerous chemicals. Cisco named heavy metals and PFAS, man-made chemicals linked to cancer, as linked to nurdles.
“This makes it not only dangerous for the animals that are eating them, but the animals that are preying on them,” Cisco said.
Nurdles traveling overseas
Recent research from the University of Texas’ Department of Marine Science found that nurdles produced in Texas have been tracked as far south as Mexico. Cisco, the lead author of the paper, said the further south nurdles were found, the more degraded they were.
“When released from Mexico, they have a very hard time making it all the way back up to Texas. Meaning that most of this pollution that’s occurring in Mexico, it’s pollution from further up in the Gulf,” Cisco said.
The TCEQ is currently revising its surface water quality standards. The process, extending into 2026, began this March and occurs every three years. Public comment begins on Nov. 23 and ends January 8.
Environment Texas has asked that people push for revised standards during this comment period. The TCEQ originally proposed new nurdle standards in 2022, but withdrew them following pushback.
Those standards would have included requiring chemical companies to prove they could prevent accidental releases of nurdles. The standard would have only applied to nurdles and not microplastics that must be seen under a microscope.
Nurdle clean up
Environment Texas and Turtle Island Restoration Network are hosting a clean-up event on November 7 in Galveston. The event is part of a month-long effort by Environment Texas to address nurdles in the state.
The event is Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Galveston. You can register here.
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