Robert Mitchell

Robert’s Story

In South Florida, when the wind blows to the east toward the affluent, mostly white communities, state law prohibits burning sugarcane simply because special protections were given to the East in 1992. When the wind blows to the west towards poorer, mostly black and brown communities, there are no such protections as of 2023. This results in ash (black snow) falling from the sky and polluting the air, destroying roofs and physical properties, falling on our kids as they play, falling on our weddings and proms, and decreasing the real estate property values in Robert’s community.

When farmers burn sugarcane in the Everglades Agricultural Area, the smoke produces some of the worst smoky days in the United States. The practice regularly hospitalizes members of Robert’s community during peak burning season which is six to eight months of consistent chemical-infused smoky days. In fact, recent studies by Florida State University found that one to six people in South Florida die prematurely each year as a result of exposure to pollution from sugarcane fires.

It is vital that the EPA hold Florida accountable on their Regional Haze State Implementation Plan to widen the scope of industrial sectors considered to include harmful agricultural practices like toxic sugarcane burning, as well as require cuts in pollution to protect impacted communities and improve air quality and visibility across the state. Especially with the commonsense alternative to burning known as “Green Harvesting” which is a win-win SOLUTION for the environment, the people and industry! There are many beneficial products such as Biofuels that can be made from the sugarcane leaves, the industry calls “Trash”, IF NOT BURNED. 🔥

Air pollution knows no bounds—the falling ash has demonstrated that our polluted communities near and far, and wild spaces such as Everglades National Park, are not the only things at risk. The people of the Tri-City area along with its neighbors of Palm Beach County deserve better, too.