Above photo: Diane Wilson.
Environmental activist calls for zero discharge of plastic pellets.
Seadrift, Texas — Environmental activist Diane Wilson has been on a hunger strike for nearly a month, protesting Dow Chemical over plastic pellets she says are turning up in San Antonio Bay near Seadrift.
Wilson, a longtime critic of industrial pollution along the Texas coast, says the small pellets, a raw material used to make plastic products — pose risks to the bay and surrounding communities.
“You are destroying your health, your bay system, your whole communities, and it’s very destructive,” Wilson said. “This bay does not belong to Dow … we’re trying to get them to zero discharge the plastic.”
Wilson said “zero discharge” would mean no plastic pellets in area waterways. She argues reducing pellet pollution would also reduce the risk of illness.
Dow is building an unshielded ☢️ reactor on the Texas Gulf.
They’re also polluting the area with billions of plastic nurdles.
Diane Wilson, a 78-year-old shrimper, is entering her THIRD week of hunger strike protest trying to stop it.
Go, Diane! #NoNukesNoNurdles pic.twitter.com/wHtW5NIyGV
— Nuclear Costs (@nukecosts) March 20, 2026
Wilson has linked the pellets to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Her next goal, Wilson said, is a meeting with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, where she plans to push for tighter regulations aimed at preventing pellet releases from plants in Texas.
“We are too polite, and we have to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘You’re not going to take our water, you’re not going to contaminate our bays, you’re not going to kill our communities,’” Wilson said. “We’ve drawn the line, then you hold that line. We need to be a little unreasonable, quite frankly.”
Ultimately, Wilson said, her focus is holding chemical plants accountable for pollution and protecting the community.
