Historic Citizen Clean Water Suit Wins $50M and Zero Discharge
The case was settled in December 2019 with a precedent setting $50 Million awarded towards local environmental projects and zero discharge of plastics from the facility. The plaintiffs received no funds.
Organizations can now create their own local Nurdle Patrol citizen science project! Nurdle Patrol is a project where volunteers conduct 10 minute surveys looking for tiny plastic pellets (nurdles) along waterways around the country in an effort to identify high concentrations that could lead to the source of plastic being released. With funding from the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust, Nurdle Patrol is expanding all over the country by creating Startup Kits for the nurdle-collecting cause. As a result of last year’s environmental lawsuit against Formosa Plastics Corp., who had been illegally discharging plastic pellets from their plant in Point Comfort, Texas, the Mitigation Trust was established to fund numerous environmental projects in the area, allowing Nurdle Patrol to make their Startup Kits. These kits will enable different organizations around the U.S. to start a Nurdle Patrol citizen science project in their area, whether in a coastal community, along a river, or at the edge of a lake, with their efforts contributing to one centralized goal: to prevent microplastics from entering the environment.