SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – A local neighborhood is pleading for help. Residents in Ogeecheeton say dust from a construction site has been polluting their streets and making them sick for over 40 years.
Now they’re taking matters into their own hands, by scheduling a press conference for Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Residents on Julia Law St. in the Ogeecheeton area say that by living next to the Clarkes Block construction site on Tremont Rd. where cement blocks are made, they are faced with everything from dirty windows to breathing problems.
Johnnie and Richard Law are lifetime residents, with Richard being Presidents of the Ogeecheeton-Dawes Neighborhood Association. They say the pollution from the construction is causing inconvenience and discomfort to their neighbors.
“Many of the residents started getting respiratory problems like shortness of breath, where we realized there was a problem,” says Johnnie.
Along their neighbors, they chose Wednesday at 12 p.m. noon for the press conference, happening right in front of the construction site on the Julia Law St. side.
“We are trying to get the attention of the city, the county, and all the residents of this area,” she says.
Brenda Johnson is also a lifetime resident who says she’s been wearing a mask for over 20 years because of the pollution.
“It’s just aggravating, and the dust is everywhere, and it’s hard to me to breathe. I walk out and have to have a mask on. I don’t come out,” says Johnson.
Johnson says she’s received medical treatment for her breathing, which her doctor says is a direct result of the dust.
“I’m using a breathing pump twice a day. I doesn’t help. That’s why I may as well stay in my house,” she adds.
Johnson hopes Wednesday’s press conference will be the start of a solution.
“Please show up. Because we do need help out here we really do,” says Johnson.
News 3 reached out today to Clarkes Block for comment, but we have not yet received a response.