Fort Myers will test residents’ wells in a 20-block area

Residents around a toxic city sludge dump on South Street received letters from City Manger Saeed Kazemi asking to test their private wells for contamination – for over 20 blocks around.

“If you live in the area bounded by Franklin Street on the north to Canal Street on the south and from Ford Street on the west to Veronica S. Shoemaker Blvd. on the east, the City seeks permission to test your well,” the memo from Kazemi reads.

With the letter – the first direct communication with residents since new site tests began – the city is casting a net so broad as to encompass other potential sources of contamination that could make it impossible to determine who the polluter is.

"Wow," said AIrquest Environmental geologist Sid Duque on reading the letter. "Why 20 blocks? It seems exaggerated when you are trying to delineate a plume from a site.”