A plan by the world’s largest real estate company to open a toxic log fumigation plant in a rural African-American community faces opposition from local elected officials.
Seattle-based Weyerhaeuser, which in 2022 owned or held long-term contracts on 631,000 acres of timberland statewide, has filed an application with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to open a log fumigation plant near Riceboro. The operation would place logs from the company’s vast timber holdings under tarps, then spray a chemical called methyl bromide (also known as bromomethane) under the tarps to kill any bugs or mold. The process is similar to tenting a house for termites.
The concern is, say experts, when the tent (or tarp) uncovers the treated wood, methyl bromide escapes into the air where it can spread over a wide area.
Methyl bromide is a dangerous chemical that depletes the ozone layer. The U.S. phased out its use for most purposes in 2005. However, according to the EPA, methyl bromide is still permissible for treating shipping lumber and tree seedlings.
The National Pesticide Information Center notes that methyl bromide kills “a wide variety of pests including spiders, mites, fungi, plants, insects, nematodes, and rodents,” and that [s]cientists believe that methyl bromide is toxic because it damages several sites in organism’s cells. Methyl bromide binds to DNA, fats, and proteins.” Methyl bromide exposure in lab animals “affect[ed] the brain, kidneys, nose, heart, adrenal glands, liver, testes, and lungs,” according to NPIC. The chemical also was implicated in DNA damage and at least two cases of testicular cancer, but is classified as a Group D carcinogen. The EPA’s Group D designation means there is not enough data “either to support or refute human carcinogenicity” — meaning that scientists have not done enough research on whether methyl bromide causes cancer.
According to the EPA, other chemicals used for treating lumber may be even more dangerous. Non-chemical alternatives like drying shipping lumber in a kiln can take several weeks, while methyl bromide tenting treats wood in as little as 24 hours.
“Nobody wants it,” Riceboro Mayor Chris Stacy flatly stated as he made preparations for the city’s annual Christmas tree lighting celebration next to City Hall. Directly behind City Hall and the adjacent public park is a massive plant that operates 24 hours a day. The city also hosts a paper mill that often leaves the air heavy with the distinctive smell of pulp operations.
Stacy called a press conference for 10 a.m. Monday on the steps of Riceboro City Hall to address the community’s opposition to the log fumigation project — and he invited community members to show up.
Although Riceboro residents and their neighbors in nearby unincorporated communities like Chatman and Retreat will be most affected, Stacy said the city cannot directly prevent the project from going forward.
“Really, that’s not in our jurisdiction,” he explained. “That’s in the county. So we’ll just partner with the county.” He added that he was supposed to meet with State Rep. Al Williams, who was at the state capitol in Atlanta for the special session on redistricting, last week. “Right now, it’s still pending. [County Administrator] Joey Brown and them wrote a letter to EPD stating the whole community is against it. So that’s kind of where they’re at with it right now…. Hopefully, they turn it down.”
In a Nov. 18, 2023, letter to James Boylan, chief of the Air Protection Division at Georgia EPD, Liberty County Commission Chairman Donald Lovette said the county had several concerns about Weyerhaeuser’s plans to use methyl bromide at the Riceboro Log Yard facility, citing the risks of “significant physical and environmental harm … noted in the fact sheet published as part of [Weyerhaeuser’s] permit request.”
Lovette wrote that neither Riceboro’s nor Liberty County’s first responders are equipped to handle emergencies at the facility: “We have researched requirements and procedures associated with scene engagement where the presence of Mb is in use. The protocol for responders is tenuous at best and requires the use of special materials, equipment, protective clothing, and properly trained personnel.
“The proposed yard is in an area served by a volunteer fire department that does not possess any of the above. In fact, there is not a department within a 50-mile radius that meets these requirements. I realize that the applicant proposes to use the utmost care in handling of the chemical and operation of the facility. However, an accident at the location would prove to be very challenging at best with negative results,” Lovette said.
Lovette also says the proposed use of methyl bromide violates the county’s Comprehensive Plan, which he says “calls for the area adjacent to the proposed site to be a mixed-use community.” “Given this designation, it is very likely that a substantial number of densely populated residential dwellings will be within a mile of the location,” he said. “The use and release of the proposed Mb fumigant, even in normal conditions, is not rational and again may lead to unwanted circumstances in emergency situations.”
Lovette urged Georgia EPD’s help “to ensure that the fumigant is not Methyl bromide and that the chemical proposed for use does not harm our environment or poses a threat to first responders and citizens.”
“We ‘re all in it together,” Stacy said. “Let’s continue to fight together.”
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Current.
