New Law Aims to Reduce Plastic Marine Trash

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published October 16, 2007 at 11:22 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Manufacturers will now be required to prevent tiny plastic pellets used in packaging from spilling into California waterways. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more on the bill signed by Governor Schwarzeneg

Manufacturers will now be required to prevent tiny plastic pellets used in packaging from spilling into California waterways. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more on the bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

They're called nurdles -- tiny plastic pellets used in making plastic products. The pellets spill out of containers and wind up in the ocean and inland waterways. Birds, fish and other marine life are killed when they mistake the nurdles for food.

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Sarah Abramson is a scientist with Heal the Bay , which helped sponsor the legislation.

Abramson : We have this plastic plague in the ocean not just nurdles but lots of other marine debris that's largely comprised of plastic that's threatening marine life by entanglement and ingestion.

Beginning in January 2009 all plastic product manufacturers in the state will be required to use safer transportation and storage methods to prevent pellet spillage. Abramson says some companies have already adopted those practices.

The State Water Resources Control Board is responsible for increased regulation and monitoring of companies that use nurdles.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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