GEC Expresses Concerns to Brunswick & Glynn County Development Authority About Bond Issuance to Innovative Foam Products
 

The Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority placed a notice of Public Hearing on the bond issuance to Innovative Foam Products, LLC, and requested interested parties to submit any concerns about the nature of the Project proposed to be financed.  The Glynn Environmental Coalition (GEC) does have concerns about chemicals that may potentially be used by Innovative Foam Products, LLC.

   The GEC requested that assurance be obtained by the Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority that Innovative Foam Products, LLC, will not use Decabromodiphenyl Ether (DBPE) during their manufacturing process or during fire retardant treatment of foam products.  Furthermore, the GEC requested that the Bond agreement specify that DBPE will not be used a condition of the Bond issuance.

   The GEC provided information concerning the problems being encountered with DBPE to the Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority, which include it being a Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) chemical that is currently banned in other states and countries, and bans are being considered by the European Union and the United Nations.

   Glynn County has been extensively contaminated by PCBs and dioxin, which DBPE is very similar to in chemical structure and ecological effects.  Like PCBs and other chemicals with two phenyl rings in its structure, DBPE bioaccumulates in fish and people.  The health effects are similar, and recent research has shown it to be a potent developmental toxicant in animals by reducing learning ability.

   The Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority contacted Innovative Foam Products, LLC, and has received assurances that DBPE will not be used.  The GEC has requested the prohibition on DBPE be included as a condition of the Bond issuance.