Lowcountry environmentalists ask state lawmakers to help with ‘nurdles’ issue

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Plastic pellets called “nurdles” are threatening the health of local wildlife and waterways and now local advocates are working to make a change.

“Nurdles are small plastic pellets and they’re the feedstock for just about anything made out of plastic,” Andrew Wunderley, executive director of Charleston Waterkeeper, said. “So, you mix together the basic chemicals that make up plastic and then you form it into a nurdle and that little pellet is shipped all around the world.”

Some nurdles don’t make it to their destination and end up polluting our waterways.

“Every time we look,” Wunderley said. “Everywhere we look, we find these pellets. We’ve done more than 80 different locations, more than 300 surveys and on average, we find about 60 pellets per 10 minutes.”

And they can be deadly to local wildlife.

“It’s harmful to fish,” Wunderley said. “To birds, to other wildlife. But not only that, it can become more and more toxic over time. Plastic in the marine environment soaks up other contaminants that are in the water column, so those little bits of plastic that are out there become more and more toxic over time.”

Wunderley says right now, there’s a loophole that allows plastic manufacturers to pollute local waterways without any consequences.

Advocates like Sullivan’s Island Mayor Patrick O’Neil, who’s town experienced a large nurdle spill in 2019, are asking state lawmakers to step in.

“You see the Town of Sullivan’s Island taking real strong leadership in saying to the General Assembly, ‘Look, we take this issue seriously. It’s important to our community. We’ve taken action to keep the harbor clean and we need you to take action to help prevent these kinds of spills into our rivers and creeks,’” Wunderley said.

And advocates want your help as well.

“Contact your local representative and tell them that you support Bill 596,” he said. “That’ll go a long way to making sure the bill gets attention it deserves up in Columbia.”

Wunderley will be giving a presentation to state lawmakers in Columbia on Tuesday to raise more awareness for this issue.