LCP Chemicals Georgia

Overview

The LCP Chemicals Georgia site covers 813 acres in Brunswick, Georgia. Industrial operations there ran from the early 1920s through 1994 and included an oil refinery, paint manufacturing, a power plant, and a chlor-alkali plant. The EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in 1996. The site is divided into three operable units (OUs), each addressing a different part of the contamination problem.

The main contaminants are mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, specifically Aroclor 1268), lead, methyl mercury, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These were found in marsh sediment, surface water, soil, and groundwater. The highest concentrations of PCBs and mercury in the marsh were removed in the late 1990s. The State of Georgia has issued seafood consumption advisories for the Brunswick-Saint Simons estuary because of mercury and PCB levels. According to EPA performance measures, human exposure is not currently under control at the site, and groundwater migration is also not under control.

Cleanup progress differs by operable unit. The marsh area (OU1) was addressed through dredging, excavation, and thin-layer covers. Its remedial action finished in August 2024, and the area is now in long-term monitoring. The upland soils (OU3) received a no-further-action decision in September 2020 after earlier removal work was found sufficient to protect health and the environment. For groundwater and soil beneath the former mercury cell buildings (OU2), the EPA finalized a Record of Decision on March 28, 2025, selecting an interim remedy to treat mercury source material in the aquifer. Remedial design and action are scheduled for 2025 through 2028. Institutional controls limit the uplands to basic industrial use and prevent residential development. A new Glynn County detention center opened on a portion of the site in 2014, and one on-site business employed 150 people as of December 2024.

Community members can get involved in several ways. The Glynn Environmental Coalition serves as the Technical Advisory Group for the site. The EPA holds public meetings, issues public notices, and conducts community interviews. A Virtual Reading Room with site documents is available online at www.epa.gov/foia/region-4-virtual-reading-room-lcp-chemicals-site-brunswick-ga. Physical records are available at the Three Rivers Regional Library System at 208 Gloucester Street in Brunswick. For questions, contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager.