This past Friday, RCSE heard from Rachael Thompson, the Executive Director of the Glenn Environmental Coalition. The Glenn Environmental Coalition was formed in 1990 by a group of citizens who were worried about the pollution in their area and what they could do to fix it. The mission of the organization is to assure a clean environment and healthy economy for citizens of Coastal Georgia.
The Glenn Environmental Coalition operates under three main pillars - environmental justice and community organizing, education and advocacy, and preservation and conservation. An example of an environmental justice initiative is hazardous waste cleanups. HB 511 is a bill that is currently making its way through the state legislature that will dedicate money to help clean up hazardous waste sites. A few other environmental justice initiatives are working with neighborhoods to ensure clean environments and improved quality of life and working with surrounding areas on air quality. Anyone can file a complaint by going to bit.ly/epd-complaint.
When it comes to education and advocacy, Glenn Environmental Coalition is helping area residents know what seafood in the area is safe to eat. There are pollutants such as pesticides, mercury, and PCB's in some of the waterways in Brunswick and therefore, citizens need to limit the amount of seafood they eat from these advisory areas. They are also helping education the population about the North Atlantic right whale which will go extinct in our lifetime. Another project is the Glenn Water Watch which engages citizens in protecting their own environment.
Finally, the Glenn Environmental Coalition is playing a role in the Golden Ray Salvage which was the capsizing of a cargo ship filled with cars. They are making recommendations to the salvage crew in order to prevent oil spills and debris on the beach. It was determined that the capsizing of the ship was caused by a malfunctioning of the computer system that helps determine the balance of weight on a ship. Currently, two full sections of the ship has been removed and they are now working on the third. To learn more about the Glenn Environmental Coalition, please visit https://www.glynnenvironmental.org