The Environmental Protection Agency says it is looking at two ways to address mercury at the old Linden Chemicals and Plastics (LCP) site in Brunswick.

As Pinova dismantels its operations, a $9 million installation is nearing completion to the east.

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Ashland/Hercules has spent $9 million to relocate the outfall canal that discharged water from the former Hercules Inc. specialty chemical plant and later Pinova into Terry and Dupree creeks.

EPA staff plan to discuss options evaluated for a Focused Feasibility Study intended to address mercury contamination on a portion of the LCP Chemicals site, one of four Superfund sites in Glynn County. The EPA has over the past two years worked to finalize a decision on how to mitigate exposure from what’s called the cell building area on the site. This is the area where mercury cells were on site when the plant manufactured chlorine gas.

“I would like to thank the coalition for my recognition for the work that went on with the Golden Ray,” Jones said. “While I’m here, I’d like to thank some other organizations that I’ve developed some pretty close relationships with, those being the Glynn Environmental Coalition, the Altamaha Riverkeeper, as well as One Hundred Miles. We all began to network together when this colossal event happened here in our backyard.”

Rachael Thompson, executive director of the Glynn Environmental Coalition, gave the group an update of EPA Superfund sites and state-regulated hazardous waste sites, including some that have been delisted.

A team of researchers from Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health presented the results of their small study Tuesday at Howard Coffin Park in Brunswick to a crowd of more than 100 people. Some people present were participants in the study and armed with a chart showing specific levels of chemicals in their blood and how the levels relate to the average American’s exposure levels.

The Glynn County Environmental Coalition, which was a partner in the study, said at the outset that results won't indicate how residents were exposed to pollutants, but may help encourage people to speak to their primary care doctors about possible health impacts.

Brittany Dodege, a coastal training program coordinator with SINERR, spoke with the Glynn Environmental Coalition on Friday. Of the 16,500 acres, SINERR manages 6,100 acres, she said. Its work falls into four primary categories: research, education, stewardship and sound management of coastal resources.

During the public hearing a member of the Altamaha Riverkeeper organization spoke saying the Glynn Environmental Coalition had evidence that the Superfund site was not secure.

We applaud your excellent Aug. 10 editorial on the opening of the F.J. Torras Causeway in 1924. As you note, 5,500 cars made the crossing to St. Simons Island the first day it opened.

What matters, in the end, are the countless small deeds of unknown people who lay the basis for the significant measures that enter history. Measures like FaithWorks, St. Athanasius Episcopal, Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia, No Kill Glynn, Glynn Environmental Coalition and One Hundred Miles.

A fi re at Georgia Pacifi c’s Brunswick Cellulose facility paused production at the mill Thursday and injuredone employee.

Glynn County fi refi ghters responded to the mill at around 9:30 a.m. when they received a call about anelectrical fi re at the facility, a statement from Glynn County said.

Come the end of October, there will be only one major cleanup left at LCP Chemicals Georgia, the sprawling former industrial site that an EPA official once termed the poster child of Superfund sites.

Mack said she has been talking with local leaders, including Rachael Thompson at the Glynn Environmental Coalition, for several years about organizing an effort to bring tangible resources like this to residents and to build connections that will help residents advocate for themselves on emergency response policies.

Etta Brown has lived in the shadow of the Pinova plant her entire life. The industrial operation over the years provided for her family, shaped the skyline of her memories and until recently was a constant fixture in the city she loves. 

Those memories, however, are joined with the knowledge of an environmental legacy in her neighborhood that she said can be scary if she thinks too much about it. 

Broadcast.

The local and personal impact of the closing has not been lost on Rachel Thompson, executive director of Glynn Environmental Coalition, which closely monitors the ongoing environmental cleanup at the factory site left by its previous tenant, Hercules.

A lawyer leading the opposition of a proposed mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is questioning the qualifications of Twin Pines Minerals to safely mine near the world-famous blackwater swamp and claims campaign contributions to the state’s top elected leadership is why the operation is even still an issue.

Steam and smoke will no longer pump out of the industrial operation that greets motorists at the mainland entrance to the F.J. Torras Causeway. 

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Pinova Solutions is closing its doors permanently, a statement from the company said Wednesday.

The Brunswick manufacturing plant that ignited a massive fire in April, is set to shut down permanently, according to a release sent from Pinova, Inc. Wednesday. 

The fire which happened on Apr. 15, destroyed core production assests and infrastructure which caused all site operations to be shut down since that day, the news release states. After review, Pinova announced the permanent closure of the Brunswick site due to it requiring substantial demolition, reconstruction, costs and time.

Video.

Officials with Pinova in Brunswick announced this morning that the plant will permanently close in the wake of the massive fire that burned for hours there on April 15. 

How close do you live to one of the country's most toxic areas?

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Glynn County is home to four federal toxic waste sites called superfunds. On Saturday, you can learn how they could impact you in what Glynn Environmental Coalition is calling a superfund field trip.' "The main way that people are directly impacted from the superfund sites in our community is through seafood," said Rachael Thompson, executive director at Glynn Environmental Coalition. "It's very important to know that the advisories in the area, except for a very few small areas, are not 'do not eat' advisories. They are consumption guidelines."

There will be plenty of ways to celebrate Earth Day this weekend in the Golden Isles...

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Keep Golden Isles Beautiful will host its Electronics Recycling and More event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Glynn Place Mall. Donors can bring old electronics, scrap metal, prescription drugs, textiles and more. And the Glynn Environmental Coalition has several planned events to offer additional opportunities to celebrate the planet and promote environmental consciousness for Earth Day.

The fines imposed on Pinova were the highest for air violations in Glynn County over the last five years. But they may not have served as a deterrent, said Glynn Environmental Coalition Executive Director Rachael Thompson.

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“That’s one of the huge problems when it comes to Clean Water Act violations, Clean Air Act violations, is companies are more likely to just violate the laws and pay the fines, because it’s cheaper than fixing whatever the problem is,” she said.

Under Georgia state law counties must create a comp plan and update it every five years in order to qualify and remain eligible for grants and other state resources.

The stakeholders are a large group of local people representing a wide variety of organizations and citizens including: the Golden Isles Development Authority; Brunswick Glynn Joint Water and Sewer Commission; the Weyerhaeuser Company; both the Mainland and Island Planning Commissions; four Glynn residents; the Jekyll Island Authority; the Port Authority; Local Agricultural Interests; two County Commissioners; the Glynn Environmental Coalition; Forward Brunswick; the Board of Education; the Chamber of Commerce and the Golden Isles Association of Realtors.

The EPA brought staff members to Brunswick in October 2022 to offer residents a chance to get status updates on all four Superfund sites in Glynn County.

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Staff overseeing the cleanup of the LCP Chemicals site are returning this week to keep that conversation going, said Rachael Thompson, executive director of the Glynn Environmental Coalition.

Community members are invited to attend a virtual memorial event at 7 p.m. today to celebrate the life of Robert Randall, a longtime leader in local justice movements... Randall was part of numerous war resistance and anti-nuclear efforts, and he also promoted environmental justice in Glynn County, which included work with the Glynn Environmental Coalition.

Local environmental advocates from the Altamaha Riverkeeper, Satilla Riverkeeper and Glynn EnvironmentalCoalition conducted their own tests of the water shortly after the chemical release and collected samples of the dead fish to examine as well. The organizations will be meeting with residents who live near the canal this week to discuss the status of the cleanup and what they can do to test their wells, among other things.

The CRC gave County Manager Bill Fallon a list of 15 local positions and organizations that they recommended be represented on the stakeholders committee. The list and the appointees included... Glynn Environmental Coalition - Tony Robinson... This group of stakeholder committee members was approved by the BOC during their regular meeting Thursday, Jan. 19.

A group of residents will be considered for appointment Thursday to the 2023 Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Committee. In addition to elected officials, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs recommends the stakeholder committee include representative from a variety of public, business and nonprofit interests in the county. The following people are recommended to serve on the committee, with terms beginning immediately and ending Oct. 31: ... Tony Robinson: Glynn Environmental Coalition.

The investigation began into this area after homeowners began noticing fish floating ashore dead. The canal near the drainage ditch is a popular location for fishing, according to residents. The Glynn Environmental Coalition, a local group of environmentalists, requested the water testing from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division after numerous complaints.

“Temporary containment systems have been installed to control potential contaminants that may remain,” the EPD’s release said. “Samples are being collected to determine if further work will be needed to clean up the ditch.” Glynn Environmental Coalition, Altamaha Riverkeeper and Satilla Riverkeeper conducted their own water quality tests on Tuesday and collected a specimen of fish and a rooster that appeared to have died as a result of the release.

The Georgia Environmental Division confirmed the spill came from the facility.

“It still looks like a chocolate milk pool,” said Maggie VanCantfort, Watershed Specialist Confluence to Coast for Altamaha Riverkeeper. She worked on Tuesday alongside a dammed portion of the canal that runs for a stretch along Chris Drive in Sterling with Satilla Riverkeeper Chris Bertrand, Trish DuBose, Satilla Riverkeeper’s water quality coordinator, and Rachael Thompson, executive director for Glynn Environmental Coalition, to collect samples of each species of fish they could find, one dead rooster in the canal, and to sample water.​

Environmentalists say hundreds of fish died. A nearby business may be responsible.