The Brunswick East River Thriller Sheen Unified Command addressed emergency response efforts and signed a memo final Thursday, establishing the transition of jurisdiction for remedial oversight to the Georgia Environmental Safety Division.
The BERMS web site has actively polluted the East River since 2019. The UC was established in Might 2024 to coordinate emergency response efforts.
The U.S. Coast Guard performed operations that included 12 high-vacuum restoration occasions utilizing highly effective industrial vacuums to take away oil from the BERMS web site, monitoring and upkeep of non-absorbent and absorbent growth across the property waterfront, floor penetrating radar and magnetometer surveys and soil sampling to establish the supply of the oil contamination. Air monitoring performed throughout all HVR occasions didn’t establish any exceedances of the U.S. Environmental Safety Company risk-based requirements.
The supply of the contamination was initially considered associated to underground storage tanks on the 1029 Bay St. property; nonetheless, no USTs have been recognized.
Just lately, the UC recognized a number of above floor storage tanks, dismantled by the proprietor of the adjoining 1025 Bay St. property, as a possible supply of contamination. Soil pattern evaluation demonstrated a possible connection between these ASTs and the oil discovered within the East River which expanded the scope of the investigation to incorporate the 1025 Bay St. property.
The UC will start transitioning from the emergency response and restoration section to the mitigation and remediation section. By the anticipated transition date in August 2025, EPD will assume full jurisdiction over all regulatory and remedial actions by the accountable social gathering. The Coast Guard and EPA will proceed to offer technical assist till discharge of oil to the East River related to the BERMS web site now not happens.
Till the transition of regulatory jurisdiction, UC will proceed to make sure the safety of the marine atmosphere by sustaining growth alongside the shoreline.
The precedence of all UC companions continues to be guaranteeing the protection of the general public and responders, safety of the atmosphere, environment friendly dissemination of data, and sustaining the soundness of the marine transportation system.
The unique announcement will be discovered here.
