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A truck leaves the industrial cement property that sits across the street from Porters, one of Gainesville s historically Black neighborhoods. (MacKenzie DiLeo/WUFT News) Home/Environment/Porters Community Residents Are Growing Tired Of Noise And Dust Coming From Neighboring Cement Companies
Porters Community Residents Are Growing Tired Of Noise And Dust Coming From Neighboring Cement Companies
By MacKenzie DiLeo
May 12, 2021
Chris Fillie worries about dusty peppers.
Fillie has lived in the Porters Community for 17 years and owns a community garden on Southwest Third Street. There, he grows peppers, tomatoes, parsley and rosemary. While the garden has existed for 15 years and is meant to bring fresh produce and a green space to Porters, Fillie is concerned about the garden’s location near an industrial site.
Earth Day 2021, this year s observance lauding nature conservation and appreciation, is Thursday and there are several ways people can honor it in Alachua County despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual holiday celebrates the start of the modern environmental movement. It began in 1970 with a Wisconsin junior senator and has grown to include over 1 billion participants in more than 190 countries worldwide, according to the organization s website.
The first Earth Day helped create the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and legislation like the Clean Air Act. In 1990, it grew outside of the country. And now, it is the largest non-religious observance in the world, the website states.
The only residents living on these plots, however, are tortoises.
Oakmont developer ICI Homes held a ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new 46-acre tortoise reserve.
In collaboration with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department as well as the University of Florida, ICI Homes’ reserve will provide a sanctuary for tortoises and other local wildlife, while serving as an amenity and educational opportunity for nearby residents.
The new reserve includes a two-mile walking trail, a bike rack and informational signage describing the local flora and fauna. ICI Homes plans to open the site on May 23.