Dear Editor,
In the November 2024 issue of the Life and Times, there was an article on the 2023 CSX train derailment. I was disappointed to see the nurdle spill from this event framed as an inconvenient, low-risk environmental contamination.
Nurdles are lentil-sized plastic pellets, which are melted down to produce larger plastic goods. They are ubiquitous in manufacturing; they are transported by trucks, trains and ships around the world. When mishandled, they can become an environmental nightmare no matter where they are spilled. In soil, they become embedded and incorporate near plant root systems. They float easily in water and can be transferred miles from their original spill. They act as chemical and bacterial sponges, and thus become incredibly effective vectors for contamination between ecosystems. Wildlife unknowingly eat and drink them; fish, in particular, are susceptible to dying due to overeating the nurdles they confuse with food.
Nurdles break down into microplastics more easily than your typical plastic waste, and, thus, whatever is not recaptured after a spill remains in the soil and water indefinitely.
There are significant efforts being made to include nurdles as registered pollutants with the Environmental Protection Agency (see House Bill H.R. 7634 [The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act] for example); if these efforts are successful, nurdle accidents could be regulated like other dangerous chemical spills and factor into financial settlements.
Nurdles are some of the most pervasive and damaging of pollutants, and everyone in Hyattsville has the right to know that the nurdle spill in 2023 has long-reaching consequences for the community.
Sincerely,
Lauren L. Lustig, dentist and natural resource advocate
Hyattsville Arts District
