SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG
Read and share the extraordinary stories from the frontlines of social change
A Victory for Citizen Science along the Gulf Coast: Nurdles, Zero Discharge, and $50M
When the suit went to trial for the liability phase in March 2019, the Waterkeepers packed the 2,428 samples into boxes, drove them to the courthouse in downtown Victoria, and presented them as evidence. Plaintiffs’ marine science expert, Dr. Jeremy Conkle, also testified that from 2017 to February 2019, Formosa’s contractor cleaned up between 7.6 billion and 75 billion individual pellets, meaning that Formosa had discharged well more than this amount since extensive plastics still remained in the environment. Other concerned local citizens testified about seeing extensive discharges of pellets and powder from Formosa’s wastewater discharge pipe directly into the middle of Lavaca Bay.
Plastic or People? Protecting the Gulf Coast From the Fossil Fuel Industry Helps the Whole Planet
Refineries and petrochemical plants that process fossil fuels are hurting poor communities and communities of color along the Gulf Coast, including southern Louisiana’s notorious Cancer Alley. And that environmental racism is only getting worse, as Formosa’s decision to target St. James Parish for its next massive plastic facility shows.