In December 2019, Diane Wilson won a landmark case against Formosa Plastics, one of the world’s largest petrochemical companies, for the illegal dumping of toxic plastic waste on Texas’ Gulf Coast. A lifelong shrimper and fourth generation fisherwoman, Diane began her environmental activism after reading an Associated Press article in 1989 that listed her county as the most toxic in the US. When the local fisheries collapsed, she became determined to protect the region from pollution and restore the devastated marine ecosystem. The $50 million settlement is the largest award in a citizen suit against an industrial polluter in the history of the US Clean Water Act. Dianne was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her extraordinary achievement.
Read about her story on The Goldman Environmental Prize website.