Ex-LCP Official Tries to Account for 120 Tons of Hg
The U.S. EPA has said LCP Chemicals-Georgia Inc. cannot account for more than 240,000 pounds of mercury. The agency is supervising the removal of contaminants at the former Brunswick, GA, plant under the Superfund law.
Defining the situation in a Brunswick court on Jan. 13, Douglas Brent Hanson, a former environmental LCP control officer, testified that LCP installed a wastewater treatment system with half the capacity needed to remove mercury from water released to the environment.
The EPA has reported extensive contamination of ground water from mercury and caustic soda that escaped from the production buildings prior to the plant's closing in 1994.
According to Hanson, LCP also routinely violated regulations governing the storage of hazardous wastes. He said that the company illegally stored mercury-contaminated mud in 55-gallon drums in a production building. The Morris News Service report of events explained that the law sets a 90-day limit on such storage. To deceive inspectors, workers would transfer the mud to new drums every 90 days. The service also reported that LCP lacked the money to pay for disposal at a hazardous waste landfill.
Hanson also testified that, in attempting to fix a structural deficiency, the company excavated the floor of a production building and found mercury. Crews only cleaned up the obvious mercury, Hansen said, adding that he was confident that not all the mercury was removed. Moreover, he had no idea of how much remained.
Urine tests by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health showed that many LCP workers have two and a half to five times the recommended level of mercury in their systems.
Three LCP officials are on trial for a 42-count indictment returned in May by a federal grand jury for criminal misconduct. They are Christian A. Hansen Jr., chief executive officer of the Hanlin Group Inc., LCP's parent company; his son, Randall W. Hansen, the corporation's treasurer and chief operating officer; and Brunswick resident Alfred R. Taylor, a former manager of the plant.
The former site owners ARCO, AlliedSignal, and Georgia Power Co. reportedly have spent more than U.S.$40 million to remove pollution from the area.