Company accused of plastic pollution agrees to pay SC nonprofits $1M in settlement

By Chiara Eisner of The State

The Charleston Waterkeeper has found thousands of nurdles along the SC coast. Scientists say more may be hidden. PROVIDED BY CHARLESTON WATERKEEPER

In one of the largest settlements of its kind in recent S.C. history, a company accused by authorities of polluting the ocean with plastic agreed Wednesday to pay $1 million to the two Charleston-based environmental nonprofits that had been suing it.

While not admitting fault for previous plastic spills, the company, Frontier Logistics, promised to implement necessary upgrades in a new facility to ensure the small pellets it imports, packages and exports from South Carolina do not escape into the environment.

“We want to be a good partner to the community and we are concerned with the environment,” said George Cook, Frontier’s CEO. “We wanted to show them we’re not who they might think we are.”