Duval County Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida

Affordability and Attainability is on the ballot!

Utilities Hykes, Property Taxes, Homeownership and so much more! RSVP and send your questions for June 11th.

Check out the prior webinars on YouTube channel of Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida (DECF)

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Affordability & Environmental Resilience in Florida - Caucus - Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida Join us for a powerful conversation about environmental sustainability, affordability, and livability in Florida and learn how to highlight these issues for voters. This webinar brings together national and state leaders, experts, and concerned citizens to explore the policies and strategies that ca...

DECF candidate series Alex Vindman

Conversation With Alex Vindman Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida (DECF)

Redlining Neighborhood Townhall engagement with our community partner!

June 18th 6 pm to 7:30 pm

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Cw7A8afMp/

Calling all BIPOC Pastors! A resource to help reduce utilities.

www.greenthechurch.org If you own, lease, or operate a church or community center facility, today is the day you can start saving more on energy costs. At the same time, you'll explore solutions for cheaper, cleaner, more-sustainable energy and building infrastructure.

I sent private invitations first, because this conversation is serious.

But this is also a PUBLIC matter.

Have you ever said:

“There’s something different about Jacksonville?”

Or:

“It’s something about this city I can’t quite explain.”

Or even:

“People in Jacksonville are just different.”

What if part of the answer is environmental exposure?

Jacksonville has a documented history of industrial contamination, toxic waste sites, arsenic exposure, and polluted soil and groundwater in multiple communities — especially historically Black neighborhoods on the North and Westside.

The EPA and Florida health agencies have documented contamination connected to former wood-treatment plants and waste sites containing arsenic, chromium, copper, ash waste, and other hazardous chemicals. Some contaminated areas were located near homes, schools, playgrounds, and waterways. 

At the former Fairfax Street Wood Treaters site in Jacksonville, EPA records confirmed arsenic contamination spread into nearby residential areas, stormwater systems, and school properties. Cleanup efforts included removing contaminated soil from elementary school grounds and dozens of nearby residential properties. 

Former workers and residents reported serious health concerns for years, including cancers, cardiovascular problems, and chronic illness tied to long-term chemical exposure. 

This is not “conspiracy.”
This is documented environmental history.

And we have to ask harder questions:

• Why are some Jacksonville communities facing disproportionate health challenges?
• Why are cancer rates and chronic illness so common in certain neighborhoods?
• Why do developmental, behavioral, neurological, and learning struggles appear at alarming levels in vulnerable communities?
• Why were schools and housing developments built near or on contaminated land?

Environmental scientists have long studied how exposure to heavy metals and industrial pollutants can impact the brain, nervous system, child development, learning ability, behavior, immune systems, and long-term health outcomes.

Arsenic, lead, industrial ash, and certain “forever chemicals” (PFAS) have all been linked in scientific research to serious health risks after long-term exposure.

When I walked into schools in 2026, one of the first questions I asked myself was:

Why are so many children struggling academically?

Why are developmental challenges becoming so common?

Why are families experiencing illness at such high rates?

Maybe the conversation is bigger than individual choices.

Maybe we also need to talk about environment, infrastructure, policy, contamination, public health, and generational exposure.

This is not about fear.
This is about awareness, accountability, research, prevention, and protecting future generations.

Jacksonville deserves honest conversations.
Families deserve transparency.
Communities deserve answers.