More than 14,000 People Call on Dow to Stop Plastic Discharges
By: Waterkeeper Alliance
More than 14,000 people have signed a Waterkeeper Alliance petition urging Dow Inc. and its subsidiary, Union Carbide Corporation, to withdraw proposed changes to the wastewater permit for the company’s Seadrift facility in Texas and commit to zero discharge of plastic pellets, powder, and flakes. Waterkeeper Alliance sent the petition to Dow CEO Karen S. Carter this week. The petition remains open, and Waterkeeper Alliance is continuing to collect signatures.
A campaign video highlighting plastic pellet pollution has also surpassed two million views across social media platforms.
The petition and video follow new data exposing the extraordinary scale of plastic pellet pollution near the facility. In June, a report released by Waterkeeper Alliance and partners found that volunteers documented a total of 1,073,433 plastic pellets at 249 sites worldwide during the 2026 International Plastic Pellet Count. An estimated 1.035 million of those pellets were found in and along the Victoria Barge Canal near Dow’s Seadrift facility. That total included a 32.5-pound sample collected by San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper.
“More than a million plastic pellets have been documented in and along Victoria Barge Canal alone,”said Marc Yaggi, CEO of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Weakening protections against floating solids would move in exactly the wrong direction. Dow should withdraw its request and commit to zero discharge.”
Those findings add to a growing body of evidence from the area. In December 2025, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper collected approximately 100 pounds of plastic pellets—an estimated two million pellets—in a single day near Dow’s barge docks. The Victoria Barge Canal flows into San Antonio, Mission, and Guadalupe Bays, carrying pollution from the facility into connected coastal ecosystems and communities that depend on these waters.
Earlier this year, Waterkeeper Alliance called on Dow to withdraw its proposed permit changes and adopt zero-discharge limits for plastic pellets, powder, and flakes at the Seadrift Operations Facility. San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper and 56 other organizations also called for the permit application to be withdrawn and for stronger protections to prevent further pollution in the Victoria Barge Canal and surrounding bays. San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper has also taken legal action.
Plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, are the raw material used to manufacture plastic products. They can enter waterways through spills, transportation, and industrial discharges and persist in the environment, where they can be ingested by wildlife and contribute to broader microplastic pollution.
The petition is the latest step in efforts to hold Dow accountable and prevent plastic pollution in the waterways and communities connected to the Seadrift facility.