Two Florida bills asking for a $10 million dollar relief fund are poised to enter committee.
Survivors of alleged arsenic poisoning at the former site of Wood Treaters LLC in Fairfax stand to get $100,000 each in compensation if the legislation passes.
Florida House Representative Tracie Davis for the district said they are still trying to get the word out so more people in the area who may have been impacted, come forward.
According to the bill, Wood Treaters operated from 1980 to 2010 and during that time "the company used a wood treating preservative called chromated copper arsenate, which includes a concentrated inorganic form of arsenic, to pressure treat utility poles...and heavy timber items..."
Davis said her office has received story after story of elevated exposure and improper equipment for workers.
"Employees have reported that there were trucks that would deliver arsenic materials, and if anything dropped on the ground, they had to report it," Davis said. "The people delivering [the materials] wore hazmat uniforms, but the workers had no uniforms."
Chain links and barbed wire surround the 12-acre property that used to employ full-time and temporary workers inside and outside of the community.
Fairfax neighbors have complained of high cancer rates and unexplained illnesses, Davis said. The abandoned plant has been under investigation for years.
"It's been despair [for them], feeling like there's something going on in this neighborhood, we know something's going on, and no one has stopped to listen to us," Davis said.
The bills filed by Davis and Florida Senator Audrey Gibson claim the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Financial Services, and the Department of Health ignored the hazardous conditions employees were in and the lack of training, protective gear, or warnings alerting them to the risks.
Davis hopes more testing by the EPA will continue, but says currently the agency has deemed the hazard contained and not a threat to surrounding areas.
"Families are raising their children there," Davis said. "There are two schools in that area, we want to make sure that the children are safe."