Brunswick, Georgia

The oceanfront city of Brunswick was founded in 1771 and is the county seat of Glynn County. Located thirty miles north of Florida on the Atlantic Ocean, the city became officially incorporated on February 22, 1856. Brunswick houses the Port of Brunswick, which is the fourth-largest automobile port in the eastern United States. The headquarters of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is a fundamental part of Brunswick’s economy. Other substantial employers include Georgia Pacific, Hercules Chemical Company, and the Southeast Georgia Health System.

Following the Civil War Brunswick suffered from post-war depression, as did many southeastern cities. In the early 1900s, the economy started to turn around after some of the nation’s largest lumber mills were attracted to the area’s one natural resource: pine forests. Georgia Pacific opened a mill in 1937 and today, has the capability of producing over 800,000 metric tons of wood pulp per year. Hercules Chemical Company launched a manufacturing facility in the city as well; the plant manufactures products extracted from pine stumps. More industry was drawn to Brunswick in 1938, when Mead Corporation entered a joint venture with Scott Paper Company and formed the Brunswick Pulp & Paper Company. Brunswick was the site of major shipbuilding during both world wars. During World War II, the U.S. Maritime Commission designated Port Brunswick as one of sixteen sites for building cargo ships. Brunswick Marine Construction Corporation initially operated the shipyard as Brunswick Shipyard, however, the yard was later transferred to JA Jones Construction, who ran it as JA Jones Shipyard after Brunswick Marine failed to make its shipbuilding goals.

Brunswick’s extensive manufacturing and shipbuilding history puts it in a hazardous category for asbestos exposure. Workers in Brunswick who believe they may have been exposed to asbestos run the risk of developing pleural mesothelioma, a type of asbestos cancer. Asbestos exposure affects more than 3,000 individuals annually in the United States.

Jobsites in Brunswick where Asbestos Exposure Occurred

A number of jobsites in Brunswick, GA have been identified as harboring asbestos containing materials. These sites, at one point in their history, were known to have exposed a variety of tradesmen to asbestos. We will be documenting in more detail how asbestos exposure occurred at these sites in the future on this web site.