CHARLESTON — The Southern Environmental Law Center sent a letter to three companies and the South Carolina Ports Authority on May 28 threatening to sue over alleged microplastic pollution in Charleston Harbor.
The letter, sent on behalf of Charleston Waterkeeper, identifies four operations along the Cooper River that the advocacy group says are responsible for releasing microplastic pellets, known as nurdles. The small pieces of plastic are melted down and used to form a variety of consumer items, including food packaging, toys and medical devices.
Charleston Waterkeeper identified the sites after finding high numbers of nurdles washing up along the banks of the Cooper River, according to the letter.
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“The data really points to the problem, or the hot spot, as being the Cooper River,” Andrew Wunderley, executive director of Charleston Waterkeeper, said.
The letter alleges that Agru America, Frontier Logistics and Ray-Mont Logistics, in addition to the South Carolina Ports Authority, have violated the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by failing to contain the nurdles, allowing them to flow into local waterways.
Agru America operates on the banks of the Cooper River where it manufactures large plastic pipes with the pellets. The company did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.
Frontier Logistics, based in La Porte, Texas, and Ray-Mont Logistics, based in Montreal, are “transload” businesses, which bring the product by rail to the port before repackaging it for shipment abroad. Ray-Mont Logistics declined to comment on the letter, and The Post and Courier tried but was unable to reach Frontier Logistics.
For Frontier Logistics, this lawsuit would be its second related to the nurdle issue in about seven years. In 2019, Charleston Waterkeeper and the Coastal Conservation League sued the company after drifts of nurdles washed up on Sullivan’s Island. The company denied responsibility, and the suit was settled in 2021 for $1 million.