Home to four Superfund sites, the Brunswick area has a long history of environmental contamination from local industry. But there has never been a study of Brunswick residents to determine if the environmental contaminants have entered people’s bodies — until now.

A westside Atlanta neighborhood contaminated with lead has been added to the EPA’s Superfund priority list, freeing up more federal funding for long-term cleanup.

Starting with $1 billion, the EPA announced that 23 states and Puerto Rico would be getting money to clean up Superfund sites in a previously unfunded backlog.

Starting with $1 billion, the EPA announced that 23 states and Puerto Rico would be getting money to clean up Superfund sites in a previously unfunded backlog.

For all the natural beauty surrounding the majority minority town of Brunswick and the wealthier white Golden Isles across the causeway, few locals are aware of the myriad environmental dangers surrounding them.

In Libby, Mont., an estimated 1 in 10 have an asbestos-related illness, after decades of pollution from a now-shuttered mine. With lungs already scarred, many fear contracting the coronavirus.