BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The Brunswick East River Mystery Sheen Unified Command addressed emergency response efforts and signed a memo, Thursday, establishing the transition of jurisdiction for remedial oversight to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
The BERMS site has actively polluted the East River since 2019. The UC was established in May 2024 to coordinate emergency response efforts.
The U.S. Coast Guard conducted operations that included 12 high-vacuum recovery events using powerful industrial vacuums to remove oil from the BERMS site, monitoring and maintenance of non-absorbent and absorbent boom around the property waterfront, ground penetrating radar and magnetometer surveys and soil sampling to identify the source of the oil contamination. Air monitoring conducted during all HVR events did not identify any exceedances of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency risk-based standards.
The source of the contamination was originally thought to be related to underground storage tanks at the 1029 Bay St. property; however, no USTs have been identified.
Recently, the UC identified several above ground storage tanks, dismantled by the owner of the adjacent 1025 Bay St. property, as a potential source of contamination. Soil sample analysis demonstrated a potential connection between these ASTs and the oil found in the East River which expanded the scope of the investigation to include the 1025 Bay St. property.
The UC will begin transitioning from the emergency response and recovery phase to the mitigation and remediation phase. By the anticipated transition date in August 2025, EPD will assume full jurisdiction over all regulatory and remedial activities by the responsible party. The Coast Guard and EPA will continue to provide technical support until discharge of oil to the East River associated with the BERMS site no longer occurs.
Until the transition of regulatory jurisdiction, UC will continue to ensure the protection of the marine environment by maintaining boom along the shoreline.
The priority of all UC partners continues to be ensuring the safety of the public and responders, protection of the environment, efficient dissemination of information, and maintaining the stability of the marine transportation system.
The media is requested to email bermsresponse@uscg.mil for response inquiries.
For any reports of pollution please contact the National Response Center at 800-424-8802.
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