USA - New Orleans - On August 20th, a 40 foot shipping container full of nurdles fell off the CMA CGM Bianca ship into the Mississippi River. A 40 foot shipping container can contain 25 tons of nurdles, which can range from millions to billions of individual plastic resin pellets. The CMA CGM Bianca broke free from its wharf due to a thunderstorm. No official clean up took place. Hazardous material spills are in coast guard jurisdiction, but nurdles are not classified as hazardous material. The Department of Environmental Quality does not find it clear as to who is responsible for cleaning up the spill.