When thousands and thousands of plastic nurdles began washing up on Sullivan’s Island in 2019, Andrew Wunderley’s phone lit up. As Charleston’s Waterkeeper, the former lawyer-turned-aquatic activist is the first responder when pollution, spills, or other mishaps impact local waterways, and nurdles kept him and his team (then two staff plus thousands of volunteers) busy as the tiny, lentil-sized pellets kept turning up along waterfronts and creek banks across the region. “Plastic pollution is a huge issue for our waterways and marine life,” says Wunderley, whose organization joined the 2016 push for bans on single-use plastic bags.
Charleston Waterkeeper (CW) collected and counted the seemingly endless nurdles, tracking data on hot spots including Waterfront Park and the Cooper River, and ultimately traced the pollution to its source—the Frontier Logistics loading facility on Union Pier. By successfully bringing and settling a federal lawsuit in partnership with the Coastal Conservation League and Southern Environmental Law Center, CW has resolved the primary nurdle issues with Frontier and continues to push the legislature to enact policies ensuring stronger regulation.
The resulting $1.2-million settlement funds water-quality improvements in the Charleston Harbor watershed. That was a major win, but for Wunderley, the weekly testing of bacteria and salinity levels for seasonal online Swim Alert reports, the litter pickups that morph into pluff mud fests, or the heave-ho of assisting the DNR with oyster reef restoration are all equally rewarding. “Waterkeeper uniquely uses science, the law, and our deep knowledge of local waterways to be effective watchdogs and stewards for clean waterways,” explains Wunderley, who joined the organization in 2011 as program director and has served as executive director since 2015. “State law is clear that our marshes, rivers, and beaches are part of the public trust—these are ours, they belong to everyone. We stand up to ensure existing environmental regulations are enforced.”
Through its expanding Creek Watcher program (like Adopt-A-Highway, but for waterways) and robust volunteer engagement—each year, some 1,700 people join for cleanups, oyster reef builds, and water-quality testing—CW rallies the public “to get their feet wet and hands dirty for clean water,” according to Wunderley. Given the region’s rapid growth converging with rapidly accelerating climate change impacts, “there’s no shortage of places for us to monitor,” he adds. “The science is clear, what we do on land affects our water. When there’s 20 percent impervious surface cover in the watershed, you see waterway impacts.”
Even while testing for, and often finding, high bacteria and pollution levels, Wunderley remains motivated by the beauty of a morning out on Charleston Harbor. “It still has the power to knock your socks off. My office view looking out on Shem Creek reminds me how special this place is, how lucky we are to have this water access, and how critical it is to take care of it.”
Learn more: charlestonwaterkeeper.org
Read our “Water, Water Everywhere,” our July 2019 on addressing flooding in Charleston
WATCH: H2OME Charleston Waterkeeper
