Rising seas magnify the dangers of Coastal Georgia’s industrial past

In Brunswick, Georgia, homes near the waterfront flood regularly, and some residents worry about what that floodwater is picking up along the way. One resident, Semona Holmes, lives about half a mile from a former pesticide plant that is now a Superfund site — a contaminated industrial property on a federal cleanup list. She says her family already avoids drinking their tap water or eating seafood from local waterways, but wants clearer answers about what chemicals they may have been exposed to.

Researchers from six institutions, including Emory University, the University of Georgia, and Georgia Tech, are launching Georgia's first Superfund research center, backed by $15 million from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Over five years, the team will study Glynn County's four Superfund sites, looking at possible health effects from past chemical exposure and testing air, soil, and water to trace how people may have been exposed. They also plan to model how rising seas and stronger storms could affect these sites, since flooding can breach the caps or structures meant to keep toxic material contained.

This is a research effort rather than a cleanup announcement, so there's no new remediation or rebate program tied to it yet. For homeowners elsewhere, the takeaway is broader: older industrial sites near coastal or flood-prone property can pose risks that worsen as storms and flooding increase, and it's worth knowing whether a Superfund or other contaminated site sits near your own home.