DADE CITY Marilyn Hunter still recalls the stench of raw sewage that was always present in her childhood in 1960s.
It floated from the sewage treatment plants across her home, and covered her neighborhood in the smell of human waste.
Officials decided to build the Dade City Wastewater Plant in the middle Mickens-Harper neighborhood when the plant was built. This was 70 years ago. The massive structure, which sits amid single family homes and a school ball field, has been a constant reminder to Hunter and other residents of the historic disregard that local governments have shown for minority communities throughout the decades.
Dade City’s government finally has the resources to take action after agreeing 10 years ago that the plant should be decommissioned.
Officials plan to remove the facility from the area by 2026. This will correct what many in the Dade City Commission and the community have long considered a racial or environmental injustice. The new facility is to be constructed in a rural area of the county that is less populated than the current one.
Hunter said that we’ve been trying to get (the municipality) to fix that sewer for as many years as I can remember. It is about time. Its past time.
Cross the tracks
The Mickens Harper neighborhood was founded in late 1940s. It is a partial result of the postwar civil rights movement, which burgeoned after World War II when Black veterans returned home.
According to a report, the Negro Civic Committee of Dade City bought land for the neighborhood development in 1949 for $2,000 because it wanted better housing conditions for Black residents. Report on the city.Negotiations with local officials were led by Odell Mickens (a teacher) and James Harper (a funeral director).
Black professionals built more than 50 homes in this new development, located across the tracks from Dade City’s main road.
The wastewater treatment plant was built soon after and all the sewage from Dade City began to flow toward Mickens Harper.
Hunter said that it’s a story that’s all too familiar.
You can find the Black community by crossing the railroad tracks. She said that you will almost always find a sewer facility once you cross the tracks.
Rev. Rev.
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McClendon claimed that what was worse is the fact that construction did not stop in the 1950s. As Dade City grew so did the sewage plant. At night, alarms were sounded to wake the children in the neighborhood, and 18-wheel trucks drove down small residential streets.
McClendon stated that residents complained to the city but that there was no hope.
The city officials were forced to consider expanding the facility onto the neighborhood’s baseball field in 2011.
McClendon explained that it was not a popular choice. McClendon said that was the last straw.
Residents protested that it was an issue relating to environmental and social justice. The Dade City Commission listened.
Three out of five commissioners voted against the expansion in Mickens-Harper’s neighborhood in December 2011.
The commission also created a committee. Under the direction of Billy Poe, then-city manager, and Mike Sherman, community development coordinator, Mickens-Harper residents will be taken care of. Government employees and residents work together to improve their neighborhoods.
The committee compiled a list of priority projects for neighborhoods, including rehabilitating local parks. They also brought requests to Camille Hernandez, the newly elected Mayor. The list included the relocation of the sewage facility.
McClendon, who was also the chairperson, stated that it was his first time being able to really engage with his government.
McClendon said that I have nothing but praise for the mayor, city manger, and Mike Sherman. They took a lot heat, but we were heard.
One foot in front, the other
Now, more than a decade since the City Commission began hearing residents’ concerns, plans to relocate this plant are becoming reality.
Leslie Porter, city manager, stated that officials had estimated that the relocation of the plant would cost approximately $41 million. The city was required to prove to federal and state officials that it was able to operate the existing plant and that the money was needed.
Porter stated that the economy is stagnant and we were in a holding mode.
But Pasco’s small town has seen growth. So has money to build a modern wastewater plant in a remote area of the city. U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, allocated $1.75million for the project in the most recent trillion-dollar federal spending bill.
The governor has a very large budget. Porter stated that Ron DeSantis is likely to sign, and $35 million has been set aside to support the relocation effort.
Mayor Hernandez sees the funding as a significant moment in her career. She was one the city commissioners that voted in 2011 against expanding the plant onto the field.
Hernandez stated that this was something we had to do long before all of the development and growth in Dade City. The plant should never have been built in the area, he said. We all understand the importance of that wastewater treatment plant for our community.
Dolores Redmon, whose yard borders the plant’s site, believes that the removal of the facility will be a small step in the right directions for her community and the realization of the efforts made by community organizers who, she says, have been fighting for justice for the area for decades. Redmon stated that Mickens-Harper’s rehabilitation efforts cannot be stopped.
Redmon stated that we were too far into the 2000s for us to be dealing with 1950s problems. What’s next?