CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Frontier Logistics on Tuesday reached a $1 million settlement with the Charleston Waterkeeper and the Coastal Conservation League over the pollution of South Carolina waterways.

The settlement comes after a federal lawsuit was brought against Frontier Logistics, accusing the company’s Union Pier location of spilling millions of plastic pellets — also known as nurdles — into the Charleston Harbor. Pending court approval, the settlement will end the federal lawsuit.

As part of the settlement, Frontier has also “agreed to allow an independent auditor, accompanied by a nurdle-pollution expert, to visit its new [North Charleston] facility to make recommendations on preventing the plastic pellets from getting into the environment.”

Charleston Waterkeeper Andrew Wunderley was heavily involved in the litigation process. He and his team collected and documented “tens of thousands of pellets from numerous locations to document the extent of the pollution.”

Wunderley said “the Charleston Harbor is an amazing natural resource for all of us, and it shouldn’t be polluted without consequence.” He continued, saying “we’re pleased Frontier has committed resources to both preventing pollution and to funding future work that will improve the health of the Charleston Harbor.”