Brunswick residents join scientists to test water quality near Superfund sites

Using gloves and a long pole, Terry Walker lowers a plastic test bottle into the water at Glynn Overlook Park and retrieves it. He pours the sample into small vials and bottles to separate the water and begin a pH reading and titration to measure oxygen.

But Walker isn’t a scientist – he’s a retired veteran born and raised in Glynn County participating in the Safe Water Together community project.

A partnership between residents of Brunswick and Georgia Southern University’s Institute for Water and Health is hoping to bridge the gaps in data collection in some of Glynn county’s most polluted waters. Other partners in the Safe Water Together initiative include Rebuilding Glynn County , the Glynn County school system, and Georgia Tech.

Walker was born in Glynn County and raised his family and grandchildren there, too. He said he isn’t one for seafood, but his family loves it, and he wants some peace of mind that the water surrounding them is safe.

“We can’t control everything, but we can at least come out and sample our water and be a part of this,” Walker said. “It just gives me a little bit more ease when I lay down at night that maybe I am making a difference.”

Asli Aslan, the director of the lab running the project, said the study is filling a need in the community – there isn’t enough existing long term data to determine the health of the water in these sites. For the past year, her team comprised of nearly a dozen community members, interns and scientists have been tracking water quality by collecting and testing samples every other week.

“It’s a co-investigation. We are doing this together,” Aslan said. “[Community members] are the ones who are reading the results with us. The ownership and advocates and stewards for their own environment becomes stronger with this activity.”

By monitoring metrics like oxygen, water temperature and contaminants in various freshwater sites, the study can also track levels of “forever chemicals” like toxaphene – a pesticide commonly used on crops like cotton decades ago – and Aroclor – a liquid chemical used in electric transformers, plastics and paint.

“Science-driven data really empowers communities when they need resources to fix the issues. That’s what we are trying to provide these communities with,” she said.

Once they return to the lab, the water is diluted and mixed with a reactive agent, then incubated overnight to see what bacteria levels pop up. Fecal matter or other pollutants cause the solution to glow a bright yellow color under UV light.

“The more cells that glow, the higher the concentration of bacteria, and the more contaminated the water is,” said Luke Roberson, the coordinator of community engagement and outreach. “Luckily, we often get low numbers, but some have been quite high.”

A main area of concern for volunteers like Walker: the four U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-recognized Superfund sites in Glynn County.

“I’m thinking once we get the data and information that we need, it is going to make [officials in charge of the Superfund sites] aware that the community are concerned,” he said.

What is a Superfund site?

A Superfund site is an area contaminated with hazardous waste that was dumped or otherwise mismanaged, and its been approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for cleanup. There are 23 Superfund sites around Georgia, and four of them are in Glynn County.

Sites have to be inspected, ranked and then studied to see how they can be effectively cleaned. Remediation can only start once the land is tested. Completion is marked once contaminants are no longer present in groundwater, which can take years.

What becomes of these sites? Sometimes, they become parks or recreation spaces, or they are returned to community partners for additional redevelopment.

Learn more about Glynn County’s Superfund sites with an online tour here.

What’s next?

A new grant from Congress will provide $2 million in additional funds to continue this project and expand the water quality testing to other coastal Georgia sites based on community need.

Community members and volunteers like Reverend Barbara Brockman are also taking part in providing samples from their kitchen tap to test potential contaminants in drinking water that might filter through homes.