New map from eco-group identifies possible plastic polluters in Texas

A new map reveals some seriously polluting plastic across Texas: Environment America, a nonprofit, and PIRG, a national advocacy group, unveiled a map showing facilities that produce "microplastics" with the Gulf Coast among the worst sites in the U.S.

Using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, researchers confirmed that at least 141 total facilities across 27 states produce such microplastics, including at least 35 in Texas.

Another 193 facilities across the U.S. potentially produce these products, which they use to make plastic items we all use every day.

The map highlights all the facilities that were listed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory as ‘Plastics Material and Resin Manufacturing, with a particular focus on facilities that produce or may produce solid microplastics.

Plastic pellets can be found anywhere but are most commonly found on riverbanks, lake shores, and beaches near facilities that handle them.

“Plastic pellets may be tiny, but they pose a huge threat to wildlife,” says Environment Texas Executive Director Luke Metzger in a statement. “Turtles, birds and fish need waterways free from microplastic pollution, but if they live near one of these plastic-producing plants, they could be at risk. That’s why we’re calling on lawmakers to stop facilities from dumping or spilling pellets into our waterways.”

Pre-production microplastics can come in powder, flake, or pellet form, amongst others.

One of the most common forms are plastic pellets, also known as “nurdles.” They are melted and molded into finished plastic products for sale.

Due to their small size and lightweight, plastic pellets are easily spilled. Volunteers have documented pellet dumping and spills across Texas, with 2.4 million pellets collected by volunteers along Gulf beaches since 2018. They accumulate in waterways where they can leach toxic additives as well as absorb toxic chemicals, including DDT, PCBs, and mercury already in the water.

Birds, turtles, and fish can mistake the pellets are food such as fish eggs or tadpoles.

“Plastic pellet pollution has become ubiquitous in too many of our communities,” says PIRG’s Beyond Plastic Advocate Kelly Leviker, who compiled data for the map. “I’m hoping this resource will help folks learn more about plastic manufacturing and potential pollution sources within their community.”

Dallas has two potential companies in the Ennis area, although the study does not have detailed information about the extent of their plastics production.

Houston is particularly bad with more than two dozen companies clustered on the southeast edge of the city by the Gulf. Other companies are spread across coastal cities from Bay City to Victoria to Corpus Christi.

Other high-volume areas in the U.S. include cities along the Delaware River such as Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) previously proposed regulating plastic pellet pollution, but backed down after plastics manufacturers falsely argued the agency didn’t have the authority to do so. Environment Texas is calling on the Texas Legislature to make clear TCEQ has such authority and to require companies to report pellet spills to the agency.

“I have collected millions of nurdles and thousands of plastic powder samples from Texas bays and beaches, but the onslaught of plastic pollution is constant,” says Texas shrimper and environmentalist Diane Wilson, who in 2019 secured a record $50 million penalty against Formosa Plastics for illegal discharges of nurdles into the bays surrounding its Point Comfort, Texas plant. “With our state environmental agency bowing to political pressure and failing to act, our only hope is for the Legislature and Congress to act and protect our beaches and oceans from plastic pollution.”

The new map will help people conduct "plastic pellet hunts" — eyes-on-the-ground events across the country, where volunteers comb waterways for microplastics, have proven how pervasive plastic pollution has become.