On March 2, a logistics company in the U.S., which operates 14 facilities nationwide, reached a $1 million settlement with the Charleston Waterkeeper and the Coastal Conservation League who alleged the company for polluting South Carolina waterways.
According to the federal lawsuit filed, the company’s Union Pier location spilled millions of plastic pellets into the Charleston Harbor. Plastic resin pellets, commonly referred to as nurdles, are used to make plastic products in all sorts of shapes and sizes. These nurdles are a major contributor to marine debris.
The Executive Director & Waterkeeper of Charleston Waterkeeper was completely involved in the litigation, and he along with his team collected tens of thousands of pellets from numerous locations to document the extent of the pollution.
The settlement will end the federal lawsuit and as a part of it, the company has agreed to allow an independent auditor, accompanied by a nurdle-pollution expert, to visit its new facility located in North Charleston to make recommendations on preventing the plastic pellets from getting into the environment.
The settlement news was announced the next day by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), and the settlement fund will be used for water-quality improvements in the Charleston Harbor watershed, according to SELC.
