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Arsenic Dumping in Fort Myers

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Andrea Melendez/The News-Press
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Not long after an investigative story appeared in the Fort Myers News Press, a “no trespassing” sign appeared on what was once considered public land in the heart of the Fort Myers’ Dunbar neighborhood.

That newspaper report found that the city dumped toxic sludge there 50 years ago, didn’t tell any of the neighbors, and haven’t cordoned off the area or cleaned it up.

Today on the show we’ll talk with Patricia Borns who reported the story for the News Press about what she uncovered.

We’ll also talk with local pastor and Dunbar resident Willie Green about the neighborhood’s reaction to the news that a city lot where kids play in the dirt, may also be home to arsenic.

Copyright 2020 WGCU. To see more, visit WGCU.

Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.