Safe Water Together Glynn County
Introduction
Located in central coastal Georgia, Glynn County contains the beach communities of Jekyll Island, Saint Simons Island, and Sea Island, along with the county seat of the City of Brunswick. Glynn County is also the home to four Superfund sites – Hercules 009 Landfill, Hercules Terry Creek Outfall, LCP Chemicals, and Brunswick Wood Preserving. County Commissioner Allen Booker (First District) approached the IWH with a problem: Since the Coronavirus pandemic started in 2020, he had found that many more people in his district were subsistence fishing in Terry Creek, a water body known to have high levels of pollution. Although there are fishing advisories and monitoring has been done by the EPA and Hercules, many warnings are ignored.
There are many reasons for people choosing to continue fishing at Terry Creek. Generational, geographic, cultural, and income factors can be very powerful, especially if the anglers are not prioritized in the science communication plan. Vulnerable groups such as low Socioeconomic communities and people of color have been historically left out of environmental research and communication, even though they are often the most at risk for health impacts due to pollution.
This research project facilitates the creation of a Black-led water quality data collection and communication team. The Safe Water Ambassador Group, or SWAG, will work to collect water quality data in the areas where people fish, communicate their results with the people most affected by contaminated fish, and build a template to improve public health. A plan that integrates data collected by the community for the community improves environmental literacy, and health behavior choices, and empowers underserved residents to change future environmental justice policies.
Last updated: 11/10/2023