Hercules proposing cleanup
 

 November 06, 2007                                                                              Section(s) Frontpage  

By ELLEN ROBINSON - The Brunswick News

 A toxic chemical cleanup plan proposed by Hercules Inc. in Brunswick has environmentalists asking questions.

 And they plan to ask even more during a public hearing Thursday on the proposed clean up of the Hercules plant.

 Cleanup of the site, stretching from Altama Avenue on the west to U.S. 17 on the east, is to begin 27 years after Hercules stopped production of toxaphene, an insecticide banned after it was discovered to be carcinogenic. 

The proposed plan, detailed in about 1,200 pages, can be reviewed at the Brunswick-Glynn County Public Library on Gloucester Street, downtown.

 Daniel Parshley, project manager of the Glynn Environmental Coalition, hasn't had a chance to digest the entire proposal but is unhappy with what he's read so far.

 "The proposed plan appears to ensure the toxaphene plant area will be covered up rather than cleaned up," he said.

 "This plan is so poor and filled with so many loopholes that it's bad for our community."

 The environmental coalition is especially concerned about an alternate plan cited in the report that calls for "covering up the area if utilities are encountered," Parshley said, adding that the plan fails to identify what utilities may be in the area.

 "No matter who you are, you find out where the utilities are before you begin digging," Parshley said. "Why isn't this being done?"

 Tom Strang, vice president of the health, safety and environmental department at Hercules, said the contaminated soil will be dug out and moved to an appropriate landfill.

"There are no plans to cap or seal anything," he said. "We will have testing done to make sure all of it is removed."

 Strang acknowledges that no one is happy about the cleanup plan taking 27 years to develop, but he stands by the company's proposal and feels it is the right direction to go to resolve what has been a long-standing issue.

 The company was ordered by the government to come up with a plan in 1987.

 "It's taken a lot of negotiation over the years to come up with the right way to do this," Strang said. "The most important thing is we are looking to do the right thing and this plan will get it done."

 The cleanup plan has a price tag of $2 million to $3 million.

 "Even though the proposed cleanup plan may cost more than Hercules anticipated, we want to do the right thing," Strang said.

 Get involved:

 Residents can attend the public hearing on the proposed cleanup of the Hercules site from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Stellar Conference Center, 144 Ventura Drive, Glynn County.