A project decades in the making that promises to alleviate flooding issues in the low-income, low-lying neighborhood of Southbridge was unveiled Wednesday.
The $26 million Southbridge Wilmington Wetlands Park was completed earlier this year, 16 years after initial work began and nearly a year after its expected completion because of delays installing the gates that control the tidal flow within the wetlands.
The project was funded through a mix of federal, state and local sources to restore a freshwater wetland and create a flood basin and open park space on contaminated, drained wetland bordered by A Street, Walnut Street and Garasches Lane in Wilmington. The park serves as recreation space as well as a storm water management facility.
Community leaders and elected officials Wednesday said the project is a perfect example of environmental justice for a community of color surrounded by contaminated industrial sites and devastated by floods for decades.
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“It stores over 2 million gallons of storm water that previously caused flooding in these homes back here,” said Wilmington Public Works Commissioner Kelly Williams, gesturing to homes along B Street in Southbridge. “It improves our water quality. As the storm water traverses over a mile of wetland, it restores the tidal wetland with 62 different planted species.”
The project also hauled away 8,200 truckloads of soil contaminated from PCBs, Williams said.
“This is about the history of where in our country we put pollutants, about where ‒ as communities industrialized ‒there were communities polluted and communities impacted,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Coons. “It has taken a lot of time. It’s taken a lot of people, but ultimately, this is what environmental justice looks like.”
Plans to restore and enhance the wetlands in Southbridge have been discussed since as early as 2005, according to Delaware Online/The News Journal archives. Neighborhood residents have long experienced flooding when it rains heavily or when high tides cause the Christina River to overflow its banks.
Former City Council President Hanifa Shabazz said the Southbridge wetlands project has been a long time coming and can now serve as a way to entice entrepreneurs to develop and purchase in the community.
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“In addressing this issue, we now have an opportunity for economic growth and wealth coming to Southbridge,” said Shabazz, who is the executive director of the Southbridge Economic Development Corporation. “It always was a hindrance. No one wanted to develop over here because it always floods.”
Now, city crews will focus on separating stormwater and sewer pipes in Southbridge, work that is expected to get underway this month.
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