Plastic pellets known as ‘nurdles’ are polluting beaches and waterways

By David Montgomery, Stateline.org

SEADRIFT, Texas — Aboard an aluminum skiff or one of her five kayaks, fourth-generation shrimper and fisherwoman Diane Wilson often plies the coastal bays and streams near her tiny hometown of Seadrift, Texas.

But instead of fishing for shrimp, black drum or blue crabs, these days the 77-year-old is an environmental activist looking for “nurdles”— tiny plastic pellets that are polluting beaches and waterways in Texas and around the country.

The minuscule spheres...