Dunbar community questions DEP’s handling of former toxic sludge site

FORT MYERS, Fla. Rev. V.D. Black-Smith runs the Apostolic House of God, a church just a few blocks away from a former toxic dumping ground in Dunbar.

“Right here could be contaminated,” she said. “Where I’m standing right here.”

The Fort Myers Department of Environmental Protection discovered arsenic in the soil 10 years ago on city-owned land between Henderson and Midway Avenues, as well as the south side of Jeffcott Street.

“Over the years, we’ve fed the homeless,” Black-Smith said. “We’ve had a summer camp for almost 40 years and, of course, yes we’ve been drinking the water.”

A group of local activists sent a letter to the Florida House Government Oversight Committee pushing for answers to a number of questions, including why the DEP didn’t notify residents on well water when the arsenic was first detected and why children were allowed to play there.

Rickey Rogers, who was born and raised in Dunbar, lives near the sludge site and hired an attorney.

“I have a lot of people in this community that died and never knew what was wrong with them,” he said. “They just passed away. So that could have something to do with it, I don’t know.”

Rep. Matt Caldwell contacted the DEP about their handling of the site.

The city is expected to build a fence around the site within the next few days.